Windian Baby
by DaemonicKitten
Summary: Ok, I couldn't think up a summary or title... Finding a strange baby, the Rangers find themselves taking care of her. But why is she here and what link does she have to Hunter and Blake? HunterOC, BlakeTori, DustinOC
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer** : Only time I will do this during the fic. I don't own it. The only thing I own is the name Taelin Crenau, I think. I don't think I've ever heard it before.

**Note** : I haven't been able to focus on one fic, lately, so I'm desperate to find an idea I can stick with. I've started countless fics concerning many things, but this one came out of nowhere and bit me on the behind. I thought _Hey, It'd be adorable to see Hunter's softer side, while taking care of a baby._ And in the process, you can see diferent sides of them all.

I also couldn't think of a title for this. LOL.

But I also wanted to include all the cute little moments you'd have, having inexperienced Rangers dealing with a baby, to a toddler and so on, until the baby finally reaches maturity.

Windia and Windians are borrowed from the games Breath of Fire and Breath of Fire 2. Same goes for Dragon clan. The idea of she ship she's in, is taken from Smallville.

**Summary** : A strange baby is found and taken care of by the Rangers. Not much is really known about her, and they have nerve-wracking times with her. There's something, though... A mention of her being linked to a 'Dragon Clan' which is said to reside on earth. What link does she have to Hunter and Blake? (I can't think up a good summary for this one)

**Pairing** : Hunter/OC, Blake/Tori

**Rating** : Not sure yet, but possibly 'T'.

**Legend** :

"Speaking"

_Thoughts_

(Scene/POV changes)

**Flashback, Vision, Dream**

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(Ops, Normal POV)

"Dude, like... What do you think it could be?"

Frowning, an asian man with short, straight hair and glasses sighed as he typed away at a computer. "Dustin, don't you think that if I knew, I'd tell you?" It was obvious he was irritated, and he rolled his eyes as he hit a button and typed some more. "It doesn't seem related to Lothor, and it's a little ways out of town..."

A blonde woman sighed and looked at the curly haired brunette boy with fair skin, before sympathetically patting him on the shoulder. "Still, for all we know, it could be a trap." she pointed out.

"I'm reading a single, humanoid lifesign." he stated in confusion. "It... It's reading as a baby!"

The others in the room exchanged incredulous and non-believing looks at his statement before Sensei Watanabi, currently wearing the body of a guinea pig, jumped onto the table, concern written all over his furry little face.

"Rangers, I do not know what this could mean, but I believe you should check it out." he advised grimly.

Hesitantly agreeing, they shrugged and marched out of the underground Ops reluctantly. One of the last to leave was a blonde man with blue eyes, muttering under his breath about 'babies' in a voice that clearly stated he didn't know what to think of this current situation.

As soon as they made it beyond the waterfall and lagoon that led to their ruined academy and current base of operations, they shared determined looks and ripped off their ninja leathers to reveal street clothing underneath. Then they streaked off in six beams of colored lights, making their way to the source of the signal.

(Hunter's POV)

Didn't take us long to find that signal.

I mean, how anyone could miss a giant ship that obviously wasn't from earth, half stuck out of the ground, with a trail of black smoke coming from the back end of it, is beyond me.

"What in the world is this?" Tori asked in confusion, staying clear of the machine as she pushed her long blonde hair out of her face.

Cam didn't wait, but walked stright up to it and began pressing random buttons. Was it me, or did he seriously have a death wish? I mean, how did he know he wasn't pressing in a self-destruct code or something?!

Still, I remained silent, knowing he wouldn't listen if I questioned him. No, the only response I'd get is a glare and a sarcastic comment.

"Hmm... I've never seen anything like this before." he mused out loud.

"No, duh." I replied under my breath. "Probably 'cause it's obviously not from here."

Turning to me, Cam raised an eyebrow, as if daring me to repeat my comment. "Did you say something, Hunter?"

Biting back a grin was fun as I shook my head. Especially when the machine let out a loud beep that caused him to jump about three feet in the air, and he spun as a sliding door opened.

"Oh..." For once, Cam seemed to be at a loss for words as he reached down carefully and picked up a small, white clothed bundle. With a frown, he also picked up what looked like a book and turned back to us with a clearly uncomfortable look on his face.

He obviously didn't know what to do with a baby.

So he looked to the rest of us for help.

Like _I_ knew anything about kids!

I think the others agreed with me, because we all stepped back, in sync, and shared pretty uncomfortable looks. Especially when the baby began to cry.

With a groan, Tori shook her head and glared at us all. "Oh, for the love of..." Stomping up to Cam, she carefully took the bundle into her arms and her face immediately softened as a smile came over her features. "Hey there." she said softly.

I glanced briefly at my bro and saw this dreamy look on his face, making me grin as I knew what was on his mind. Shaking my head, I looked back just in time to see her smile turn to wide eyes as her jaw dropped.

She had one hand in the blanket and seemed to be pushing it back. Then she seemed to pull on something, but the baby let out a scream of pain and she quickly pulled her hand back.

"Oh... My..." Looking at us with wide eyes, she turned to Cam. "Uh, Cam...? Do me a favor...?" She handed the baby back to him without another word before carefully unbundling it.

Cam's eyes went wide as well as Tori picked up the baby, out of it's bundling, and I think we all mirrored the gesture.

I mean, we were looking at a fairly human looking baby. A little surprising, considering the ship it was in, _clearly_ wasn't from earth. It had two human ams, two human legs, a fairly human, and I reluctantly admitted, adorable little smile on it's human face... A human clump of black hair and sparkling violet eyes, and a white little dress...

There was only _one_ little difference...

On the baby's back were two white, fluffy-looking angel wings that fluttered a bit as Tori held it up for us to see.

I raised an eyebrow as, for a brief moment, I had a flashback of watching the Lion King, and how the baby was held up in front of all the animals. Then I closed my eyes tightly and willed myself not to think about it.

Cam immediately turned to the book and began to read through it. "This is surprising. It seems this baby's from a culture on another planet, called Windia. All their people have wings, but most are colored. From what I can tell, the culture is shockingly similar to ours. The language seems to be the same, and they seem pretty human but not as advanced." He raised an eyebrow and turned to the ship.

I think I could tell what he was thinking and for once, I reluctantly agreed with him. _Not_ as advanced? That ship looked pretty advanced to me!

Shaking his head, he watched as Tori carefully held the baby close to her before turning back to the book. "There seems to have been a war, and as their last resort, they sent this baby to us. That was the only ship they had, and since it was only big enough for a baby... There's also a brief mentioning about some sort of 'Dragon Clan' and them being sent to earth a long time ago. This baby is somehow linked to that."

"That's nice and all..." Tori stated as the baby slowly began to drift off in her arms. "But who is it? And uh, is it a boy or girl?"

Quickly flipping through the book, we had to wait until he made it to the back. "A girl. Her name is Taelin Crenau." Stumbling over the name, he frowned and repeated it a few times quietly, as if trying to figure out what sounded right and didn't. Rolling his eyes, Cam turned back to the book. "It says here that the device around her neck..."

I looked at the baby, which seemed a lot like a newborn, and noticed a purple collar around her throat.

"Will speed up the growth of her DNA and grow with her. That means she'll age once every 24 hours, by a few years. Once she reaches the human age of 18, we should remove the collar to allow her growing to return to normal." he finished with a frown.

"Wait-a-minute!" Shane frowned deeply and looked at Cam suspiciously. "_We_?!"

Now it was my turn to frown as I spun to face him. "You can't mean to tell me _we're _gonna have to take care of this..." Shaking my head as I gestured to Taelin, I felt my heart restrict painfully when she gazed at me with such innocent eyes. Even if they were an unusual color, I instantly felt bad for almost calling her a monster, but that didn't mean I was going to back down. "We have more important things to do than babysit!" I insisted, turning back to him.

Shaking his head, Cam folded his arms over his chest and gave me a challenging look. "So... If you think _we_ can't take care of an alien baby with large feathered wings on her back, tell me... Who will?"

I blinked and turned back to Taelin, feeling my face heat up as I noticed the white wings folded neatly against her back. _Ok, point to Cam._ I thought begrudgingly. "You expect us to babysit?" I repeated, stuck on that subject.

"From what I just read, it'll take about two weeks for her to age to maturity." he reminded me. "And what else do you expect us to do? Just leave her here? Wonderful idea, Hunter." he stated sarcastically. "So why don't you go take her from Tori and place her back in her little home-made crib?" He grinned a little. "Or should I say _try_ to take her from Tori."

Looking to Tori, I saw her glaring at me with a glare that would put all of Cam's, combined, to shame, and quickly switched my gaze to the little baby in her arms. Ok, so I admit, I was being pretty cold-hearted, but how were we supposed to fight Lothor, train, live semi-normal lives and babysit??

Walking over to the baby, I reached out to pick her up, only to have Tori take a step back. "Relax, Tor." I stated in irritation. I reached out and she reluctantly allowed me to pick the baby up.

Immediately, the baby cooed with a toothless smile and I felt myself warming up to her. Reaching out to me, she grabbed my collar tightly and gave a little giggle that made me fight back a smile.

"Come on, bro. She obviously likes you." Blake stated with a grin as he walked up.

I raised an eyebrow and gave him a defiant look. "And just who's she gonna stay with?" I challenged, not quite ready to just give in. I shifted my hold on her so that she was resting against my arm and chest, her little white wings stil folded neatly, but ruffled a little as she settled, and placed my other hand as a wall to keep her from falling.

"You."

I spun to Cam, feeling my eyes snap to little Taelin when she let out a loud squeal, but she had this broad grin and totally trusting look in her eyes. Then, Cam's words hit me and I snapped my attention back to him. "Us?!" I demanded. "We have a two bedroom apartment! Where exactly is she gonna stay?!"

"With you, bro. I totally...uhhh..." Blake hesitated when Tori looked at him expectantly. Shrugging, he offered a sheepish look. "Uh, well, you've got a bigger bed. At least until we can get her a crib."

"But that wouldn't work." Shane pointed out. "About the crib, I mean. She'll out grow it in a matter of days."

"It'll be the same with clothes, but we have to do something." Tori pointed out.

"Ok, and _why_ can't she stay with one of you?!" I demanded, totally uncomfortable with the idea of babysitting.

"Because they live with their families." Cam pointed out, his voice faltering over the words.

I blinked and felt my eyes narrow as I realized that he had a point. _They live with their families, and we don't have a family to go to._ I thought as I recalled the looks on mom and dad's faces at the cavern of souls. "Right." I stated quietly, feeling tears come to my eyes. _I guess it makes a lot of sense, then._

Taelin began to cry and I looked down, seeing her staring at me with watery violet eyes that seemed to mimic the pain I felt. _It's the same for you, too, isn't it?_ I thought a moment. _I mean, your family's gone now._ "Fine. She'll stay with us, but Tori has a point about clothes, and who's gonna bathe her and change her diaper and potty train her...?"

Cam grinned a little. "Well, the collar is enchanted with a spell that'll help with that. It can send small amounts of information into her mind, and she can absorb knowledge fairly simply. It'll take a bit longer for her mind to catch up to her body, but she'll learn all that by herself, more or less. Until then, you're just going to have to teach her."

I felt the blood drain out of my face. "Ok then. Tori can stay with Blake, at our place, to help with that." I stated quickly as my mind went totally blank.

"Nope. I can't. My parents would freak." she stated with a grin. "Relax Hunter, as far as clothing, I think we can manage to buy her a new outfit whenever she needs it, and she's just a baby. How hard can it be to take car of her?"

"And dude, like, we'll be helping during the days." Dustin pointed out. "I mean, you'll have to bring her to Ops when we train and stuff, right?"

"And I'm sure father will be lenient with your training and such while taking care of her." Cam added persuasively.

"I already said it was fine for her to stay." I muttered with a glare to the others, feeling my face heat up. "Fine. Let's just get back to Ops, so Cam can go all nerdy about that book and the ship." _I seriously need to spar, too._

Cam shot me a glare but refrained from making a comment when his eyes settled on Taelin. I guess he figured she'd be more than punishment enough, so he shrugged and nodded to the others before we headed back to Ops.

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Ok, I realize Rangers and Babies have been combined before, but I'm trying to do something different.

Oh, uhh... Anyways... As I said, I was desperate for a story idea I could stick with. I don't know yet how this is going to go, but we'll see. I'm wary about posting this because I don't know how it's going to go, and I keep thinking the idea is too much like other fics I have read about Rangers taking care of babies.

Well, I'll put it up and see what people think.

Hope you like it.

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"Sorry, but without teeth, that's not gonna work."

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	2. Chapter 2

(That night, Normal POV)

Hunter winced as another spoonful of babyfood ended up spit all over his shirt, and closed his eyes tightly, massaging his temples as he struggled not to lose his temper at the baby.

"Bro?" Blake came wandering into the kitchen and winced at the sight of Hunter, covered in baby food while Taelin grinned at him and bounced in his lap. Making a face, Blake knew Hunter was ready to snap and bit back his laughter as he walked over and picked up the fairly messy baby. "You know, you're supposed to _eat_ the food." he told her with a smile.

Wide violet eyes blinked back at him as she seriously seemed to take in who was holding her. For a moment, Blake prepared to put her back in Hunter's lap, because she looked ready to start crying, but then her eyes widened even more and she let out a squeal, clutching tightly to his shirt and coosing at him.

"Well, 'hi' to you, too." he stated with a grin. Turning back to Hunter, he saw that he had his face buried in his hand, and the spoon resting on the table.

There was no doubt Hunter was utterly exhausted and he was at his wit's end.

"Hunter, go to bed. I'll feed her." Blake stated firmly.

There was complete silence for a moment and Blake wondered if Hunter had fallen asleep or something, but a moment later and he got a weary nod as Hunter slowly blinked glazed blue eyes and stood up.

"'Er!"

Bother brothers looked at Taelin, who was grinning and watched as she raised her hands to Hunter.

The said blonde looked ready to lose it, but walked up to her warily and stared at her.

She made a grabbing motion with her hands and reached up towards his head.

Looking at Blake, Hunter's eyes were noticeably dark. "If she makes a grab for my hair, I swear I'm gonna scream." he warned as he carefully leaned down closer to her.

Looking at him a moment, Taelin gave the sweetest smile a baby could manage, before plopping a wet, messy kiss on his cheek and giggling. Waving her arms, she cooed some more and Hunter couldn't hide the small smile as he stood back up.

"Night, bro." Blake stated with a grin, taking the chair Hunter had vacated, and checking out the bottle of food. "Mashed peas?" Making a face, Blake shuddered a little. "Dude, no wonder she was spitting it back out at you."

"You heard what Tori said." he replied with a yawn. Then he frowned. "Uh, what did she say?"

Blake laughed and picked up the spoon, getting a spoonful of the food and looking at his brother. "Something about 'what tastes good isn't always the best'...? Or something...?" he offered akwardly as he held the spoon to Taelin's mouth.

She snapped her head forward with a giggle and took the food in her mouth, only to make a face. She looked ready to spit it out, but Blake quickly dropped the spoon and pinched her lips together, just hard enough to keep from from doing so. "It's nasty, I know!" he insisted. "But you gotta eat it!"

Staring at him with huge watery eyes, Taelin stopped fighting after a moment and swallowed the food. As soon as he let her lips go, she snapped her head forward and bit his finger, hard, glaring at him.

For a moment, everyone just stared at her before Blake began to laugh. "Sorry, but without teeth, that's not gonna work." he told her through his laughter.

Shaking his head at his brother, Hunter smiled and waved at them. "Night bro."

Pulling his hand away from her, Blake grimaced at the slime over it and seemed to turn pale, before turning in Hunter's direction. "Oh, hey... She's sleeping with you tonight." Blake warned with a grin as he got another spoonful of the baby food. Shuddering a bit, he got ready to feed it to her.

"Don't remind me." Hunter mumbled as he wearily scrubbed his face and stalked off.

(The Next Morning, Tori's POV)

Ok, so I wasn't too sure about leaving Taelin with the boys. I mean, I know they're fully capable of taking care of her, but they're also totally inexperienced and don't have a maternal instinct to help them.

If it wasn't for the thing, I'd have been more than happy to take her in, because I knew my mother would've helped.

But then again, that means I'd have to think up a story as to how I found a baby with odd colored eyes, and why _I'd_ decided to take care of it...

Well, ok, it was probably best for Hunter and Blake to take care of her, but it didn't stop me from worrying. I mean, for one thing, it'd constantly be a slap in the face. A bold reminder that their own parents are gone.

Blake might be able to handle that, for a while, but Hunter... I think it was safe to say the loss of their parents still haunted him, severely.

As it was, Blake had to call and beg me to come over last night, just to bathe her. He explained about the mashed peas and I couldn't help but laugh when he described the scene where she bit his finger with her gums.

It was so adorable and I just wish I'd been there.

"Ok, I'll see you later, mom!" I called, thankful my litle sister was already gone to school.

So here I was, heading out earlier than usual, the next morning to check up on them. I wanted to make sure that both the boys _and_ the baby were still basically in one piece and breathing.

"Tori?" An older woman, my mother, stepped out the front door with a look of confusion on her face as she checked her watch. "It's early." Her blue eyes showed clear confusion as she brushed a stray strand of shoulder length blonde hair out of her eyes. "You don't have to leave for another hour, yet."

"Oh, I know." I bit my lip a little before catching myself and offering her a smile. I always bit my lip when I was nervous and she'd come to pick up on that. "It's just... Remember how I told you that my friends and I found a baby, and Hunter and Blake were taking care of her?" _Or, rather, _trying_ to..._ I thought as I recalled the disaster zone from last night.

So I had to think up _some_ kind of story.

She nodded with an enlightened look. "And you want to make sure they all survived their first night together." she stated knowingly. "You know, you could have brought the baby here. I would have been glad to help out."

_And freak out when you see the wings._ I thought as I shook my head. "It's ok. I'm sure they're fine, but..." I shrugged a little with a smile and took a step back.

Laughing softly, my mom nodded a little and waved. "Alright then. Have a good day, dear." she stated as she turned and went back to the house. Stopping for a moment, she turned back and winked. "Oh, and say hello to Blake for me." she said in a teasing voice before heading inside.

Biting my lip and blushing, my smile faded. I found myself thinking of Hunter and Blake, and how they didn't have this anymore. When I first found out everything about them, I tried to put myself in their shoes, imagining what life would be like for my sister and me, without mom and dad.

I couldn't handle it. That's what.

The images brought tears to my eyes, and I found myself understanding the slightest bit more, the pain those two went through, daily.

"I don't know how they do it." I muttered as I smiled fondly and turned, hopping into my van and heading out.

_How can they live day to day, knowing they'd never see their parents again? No more motherly concern, fatherly scolding. No birthday parties, or scolding from both parents if they tried to throw one in secret. No one to hold them and offer advice or support, when they got dumped or hurt._

_No one to offer confidence if one of them got hurt and the other was worried._

_Just two brothers. Living every day with the constant pain that they're alone. Probably terrified at the though of losing each other..._

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Yay. Thank you to **GinaStar** and **JuseaPeterson** for reviewing so far and encouraging me. Here's chapter 2.

Hope you like it.

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"Do you have a camera?"

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	3. Chapter 3

**Note** : I don't know how to write in baby talk, so please bare with me. Also, as a side note, I don't know anything about any of their families, except that Shane has an older brother and little sister, Tori, I think, has a sister and I don't know if she just lives with her mom or anything, and Dustin lives with his parents.

So more or less, please bare with me (Again) because I am trying to keep them as in character as I can.

Also, I will be trying to update at LEAST once a week.

And thank you so much to my reviewers:)

**GinaStar** - Well, I'm hoping for quite a bit of cute, as well, but funny will be nice. LOL. I hope you like how it turns out. :)

**JuseaPeterson** - The whole no family thing kind of came out of nowhere. I mean, I didn't realize they were connected like that until you mentiond it. LOL. But I'm trying to stay in the character's heads as much as possible. Also, the Hunter/Cam banter is easy, since I can so see them glaring at each other and being smart with each other, you know?

**star-dreamer09** - Well I've read Rangers being turned into children and such, and I think that might have been where this originally came from, but at the same time, I like to try odd mixings and such when writing. Usually, it's something from a game or movie, mixed into Power Rangers. As for Hunter stories... I TOTALLY agree! LOL

**pinklen98** - I know. I mean, can you see tall dark and broody Hunter taking care of an adorable baby? It's sooooo cute:)

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(At the Apartment)

It didn't take me long to get there, and I found myself blushing as I stood outside their door.

For a brief moment, I felt a little bad for stopping by at 5:30 in the morning, and wondered if they got any sleep at all. I actually almost turned and walked back out to my van, but I bit my lip and shook my head, turning and knocking slightly.

_Please let them be awake._ I thought as I really hoped I wasn't waking them up.

There was silence on the other end of the door and I made a face at the realization that they must've been asleep still. I turned to walk away when I heard the sound of someone tripping over something, a muffled curse and the lock turning.

Turning back to the door, I gave a sheepish smile to Blake as he opened it, blushing when I saw that he was still half asleep.

"Hey Tor." he greeted with a smile, yawning a little.

Narrowing my eyes, I began to laugh quietly and pointed to his shirt. "Do you always make a habit of sleeping in baby food covered clothing?" I asked after a moment.

His head shot down before looking back at me with a small smile and a shrug. And if I didn't know any better, I'd have sworn he was blushing, too. "What can I say? I was up for a while, trying to get Taelin to eat enough." he stated with a wince. "By the time she was full, pretty much all the baby food was gone, or we were wearing it..." He made a disgusted face. "And I was too exhausted to change."

He stepped to the side and I walked in, noticing with a wince of my own, the mess of baby food on the floor and all over the table.

"Oh, and I was too tired to really clean up, too." he muttered, definitely blushing as he looked away akwardly.

"I see that." I stated with a face. Shaking my head, I brushed a hand through his hair, blushing when he seemed to relax. "You've got massive bed head." I muttered absently, trying to explain my actions.

"Hunter's still asleep... I think." he said with a smile as he brushed at his hair. "He was out cold when you put Taelin in with him, and I dunno if she woke him up."

Nodding a little, I gestured quietly for him to follow me and set off down the hallway to the bedrooms. Stopping at Hunter's open door, I looked in and covered my mouth quickly to keep from laughing at the adorable sight.

Hunter was sleeping, like Blake stated. He was on his side, covered up to the bottom of his throat with a crimson quilt. Buried in his throat was a little head with long black hair that was laying across her half of his pillow, and two white, fluffy wings, which peaked out of the top of the quilt.

"Dude..."

Turning at Blake's whisper, I saw the fond smile on his face. "Do you have a camera?" I whispered to him.

Frowning for a moment, he seemed to think about it before snapping his fingers and nodding. He crept silently down the hall, and I thanked the ninja teachings for stealth, and returned two minutes later with one of those instant cameras. Creeping into Hunter's room, he froze still when Hunter's head tilted down a little and one of Taelin's hands crept up to her face, but they didn't wake up.

Once he was by their side, he leaned forward and took a picture, almost streaking back out of the room when he was done.

We decided to leave them to get a little more sleep and went back into the kitchen. Blake placed the camera aside before making a face and grabbing the mop.

"So, it looks like she had one of those growth sput things Cam was talking about." I stated quietly, moving the chair out of the way, grabbing a paper towel and wetting it before I started on the table.

"How old do you think she is now?" Blake asked with a slight frown.

I stopped cleaning for a moment as I thought about it. "Well, I think she might've been maybe a few months when we found her. If she grows by a couple of years, I'd say...2 or 3...maybe?" I offered cluelessly.

"So she can eat solid food now?" he asked with a hopeful look.

"If what Cam said about the knowledge is right, then yeah." I said with a nod. "She should be more or less able to feed herself now, too, but she's still gonna make a mess."

Blake made a face before sighing. "Well, it's better as long as she doesn't decide we'd look better _wearing_ her food." he muttered in disgust, picking at his shirt.

I laughed a little and shook my head as we continued cleaning up. I had to admit, I was impressed. They boys were doing a good job.

...So far.

I still couldn't help but break out laughing when I recalled Blake running for cover when it was time to change her diaper. I didn't think it was humanly possible to run that fast without streaking, and the look of absolute horror on his face...

(Ops, Hunter's POV)

"Hunter!"

Blinking, I raised my head from the table and looked at the energetic little girl that just called my name. "Yeah?" I asked wearily, thankful Sensei let me have the day off.

Walking over to me akwardly, Taelin smiled a smile full of baby teeth.

It made me wonder how a baby could age like her, gaining a full mouth of teeth, overnight, and not wake up screaming in pain.

...Not that I was complaining.

She went from being a few months old, to the age of 3. Apparently, Cam figured she'd age 2 or 3 years a night, during her sleep. In place of the baby we'd been taking care of was an adorable little girl with bright violet eyes and long black hair.

Tori went shopping for clothes for her, and we found out that she could speak, a little, walk, although she was akward on her feet, and feed herself, although she still makes quite a mess. Luckily, there was no problems with the clothing shopping, but Taelin couldn't go because of her wings.

"What yoo doing?" she asked with a grin.

"Resting." I answered, covering my mouth as I yawned.

Her grin faded and in it's place a pout formed. "Yoo don want play wit me?"

I closed my eyes tightly, frantically thinking of some excuse that would make her happy, but at the same time, allow me to rest.

"Hey, Tae-tae!"

I opened my eyes again and blinked the blurriness away as Dustin came walking over with a smile.

"You wanna play?" he asked as he knelt down to her height.

Changing my glance to her, I watched in confusion as she seemed wary of him and shook her head as she practically buried her face into my side. I lifted my arm and pulled her closer and she relaxed against me, clutching the side of my ninja leather top as she seemed content.

I frowned a bit and shook my head at Dustin who looked a little hurt and confused. "She's been like that with Shane, too." I muttered quietly. "She's wary but otherwise ok with Tori. She doesn't seem to care for Cam..." _Not that I find that confusing or unusual at all... But she practically jumps all over me and Blake._

He nodded a little and shrugged. "Well, at least she's calm now." he muttered sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Nodding, I looked back down at how she was staring at him. The look she had was one of total confusion, like she'd never seen him before. I could understand that. I mean, she'd never seen any of us before yesterday.

What got me was there was almost a vague sense of recognition in her eyes when she looked at Blake or me.

"Hm, I've figured out more from the text." Cam stated from the computer. He called Tori and Shane in from sparring and Blake from one of the back rooms, where he'd been sleeping, and once eveyone gathered, turned to us.

Blake sat beside me, so that Taelin was sandwiched more or less between us, and I felt her relax even more before she buried her face into my side. It was strange. I was really uncomfortable with having a little girl, _from another planet_, seemingly so dependant on me, but at the same time, I felt... Well, right.

It was like something in the back of my mind was telling me I _had_ to protect her.

And that only served to make me even more uncomfortable.

"I've managed to find more on the Dragon Clan." Cam started as he looked over us all, seated around the table.

Taelin's body stiffened and I frowned as I looked down at her. I remembered Cam saying vaguely that she was linked to them, but I didn't understand how.

"They left Arnon, their home planet and Taelin's, a while ago, because their race as dying out there. There was an ancient evil, which tried to pass through into their world, but Dragon Clan blood kept it sealed away. Still, they were hunted by servants of this evil, and in the end, were close to being completely killed, off, so they fled."

"They came here." Shane stated with a frown.

Cam nodded and sighed. "Yeah, more or less. They deemed it close enough to their planet. There's only one problem." Turning back to the compuer, he typed some things into the keyboard. "It says that they supposedly disappeared generations ago. No one knows if they still exist or if they died off."

"Well they can't have died off." Tori stated with a firm shake of her head. "If that was the case, why's Taelin here?"

Once again, my attention was drawn to Taelin, and I saw her eyes sparkling more than usual. I didn't know if it was because she was trying not to cry, or maybe she knew something...

"Well, from what I figured out, it seems that they may have hidden. They were basically humans with dragon blood, and were able to hide their forms. Their natural form would be humanoid with dragon wings, and they can change into dragons."

"So they might still be around." Tori stated as she glanced briefly to Taelin.

"It seems that if they are not needed, Dragon Clan members can become normal humans. Their dragon spirits go dormant. In other words, all access to their power and other forms are gone." Cam turned back to us and adjusted his glasses. "And in order for their dragon blood to be re-awakened, they have to be called upon by a Windian."

Taelin giggled and everyone turned to her. "Dragon." she giggled out as she squirmed against my side.

"Dude, like, do you know who the dragons are?" Dustin asked her in confusion.

She grew self-conscious and clung to me tightly before nodding slowly. Then she shook her head and her eyes, and the collar, both began to glow a deep wine color. "Not time." she stated in an eerie, calm and serious voice. "It's not time yet." Then the glow was gone and she giggled again.

Dustin's eyes were wide and he looked totally freaked by what happened. Shane shuddered involuntarily and made a face, quickly looking to the table. Tori raised an eyebrow before silently turning to Cam with a questioning look.

Cam frowned deeply and spun back to his computer, typing away at a furious pace.

Looking at Blake, I noticed he seemed more confused by the others' reactions than by what just happened with Taelin, and I know I felt the same. Out of everyone here, I think we were the only ones who weren't freaked.

Not that we saw that sort of thing every day, or thought it was normal...

After a few moments, Cam frowned and seemed to lean in closer to the screen as he read something that came up. "That collar is heavily enchanted. Other than the speed boost to her DNA growth, and the knowledge, there's also a warning. I'm not sure I understand, but if she's questioned about the Dragon Clan, before a certain time, that happens."

I nodded and looked down when I felt Taelin moving against my side. "Bored!" she whined, pouting at everyone.

Blake laughed a little and looked around. "Anyone know how to keep a 3 year old amused for a few hours?"

"_That_ is impossible!" Tori shot, giving him a look. "There is absolutely no way to keep a 3 year old amused!"

Shane grinned broadly and made a show of looking at his wrist, even though he wasn't wearing a watch. "Well, I think we should get back to sparring."

Dustin nodded quickly. "Yeah dude, I'm totally with you there! Good luck, guys."

The two of them took off as fast as they could, and I felt myself giving Tori a beggng look.

She bit her lip and looked at Taelin a moment before nodding. "Well, why don't we go to the beach? She can play in the shallow water."

Taelin nodded happily and jumped up, her white wings fluttering wildly in her excitement and Tori's face fell.

"Oh, yeah. Bad idea." she stated quietly.

I looked over at Taelin and saw her eyes water up as she sat back down quietly. She knew exactly what Tori meant, even if she didn't really understand why she had wings and we didn't. I felt my heart constrict painfully towards her, knowing that she just wanted to live a normal life, but with her wings, that was pretty much impossible. Reaching over, I gathered her towards me and picked her up, setting her in my lap as I held her tightly.

She began to cry, and though I felt akward, I also just couldn't bring myself to let her go. I felt her little hands clutching my top tightly as she sobbed into my chest, and wished there was something we could've done.

Tori apparently felt the same, and her face saddened a lot as she turned to Cam. "There's gotta be _something_ we can do!"

"She's like the Dragon Clan. She can will her wings away, but I don't think she's old enough to understand that, or know how." Cam stated turning around with a sympathetic look. "And it would take time to simulate a beach here, for her."

I shook my head. "Don't bother." I stated quietly, rubbing her back a little. I grimaced when Tori glared at me and I realized how my words came out. "I mean, by tomorrow she's gonna be almost twice her age now, right? She'll probably know really soon how to make her wings invisible, or whatever, and then she can go to the real thing." I tried to explain.

"That'll be fun." Tori stated with a roll of her eyes. "Hunter, she's not comfortable around me, Shane, Dustin or Cam. And you're almost never at the beach."

Blake raised an eyebrow with a 'What am I, chopped liver?' look. "Well I can always take her, or I'm sure Hunter's not gonna shy away from the sand and sun." He grinned a little at me. "Or did you turn vamp when I wasn't looking?"

I jumped a foot in the air when two little hands were placed on my face and I looked down, blinking silently to seeTaelin was looking up at me with about as much seriousness as a child of her age could manage, and grinned a little.

She shook her head. "No. No sharp teethies." she stated with a giggle as she looked at Blake.

Tears were still in her eyes, and there were tear trails down her cheeks, but she still gave a bright smile and sniffled a little.

I found myself laughing a little, and Blake and Tori joined in.

I had to admit, as weird as it was taking care of a child, especially one with wings, it was also kind of nice. Taelin was absolutely adorable and sweet, and though she could be a pain, having the others there to help us out made it a lot easier.

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Ok, who else is practically melting over Hunter acting so protective and comforting? LOL. I'm still stuck on the image of him sleeping with the little brunette head under his chin. LOL. I mean... KAWAII!!!!!! (Aka, that means adorable/dear/sweet/cute in japanese) LOL

I want to try and focus on brotherly love, as well as the bond between Blake and Tori. I want to do Hunter/OC, but I'm not sure how the bond would turn out since he raised her from a baby. I'm having doubts about that pairing, but I want to pair Hunter up with someone, so I'm working on it.

Hope you like it.

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"Dragon funny."

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	4. Chapter 4

(That night, Tori's POV)

_Oh, this is fun._ I thought sarcastically as Taelin grabbed a handful of peas and tossed them at Hunter. Raising his eyebrow in reply, it was easy to tell he was struggling not to yell at her, and Blake looked torn between laughing and losing it himself.

Me? I was pulling carrots and peas out of my hair with, I'm sure, a rather disgusted look on my face.

_Yep. Lots of fun._ "Ok, Taelin? You have to eat them, not throw them." I stated with a forced smile.

Sticking her tongue out at me, Taelin grabbed another hand of peas and carrots and threw them at Blake who simply closed his eyes and let them hit him. With a heavy sigh, he grabbed his paper towel and wiped off his face, again, seemingly not noticing the carrot stuck in his hair.

"No! They gwoss!" she stated with a pout as she stuck her fingers in the mashed potates and then sucked on them.

"At least she seems to like the potates well enough." Hunter muttered with a barely concealed glare as he poked at his meatloaf and veggies.

I just shrugged in reply, taking the break in her promptu food fight to eat a little of my own food, which was growing cold. I glanced at her, to see why she suddenly got so quiet, and watched as she drew in her mashed potatoes with her fingers, using the peas and carrots as decorations.

Frowning a little, I looked at Hunter and noticed him eating his food warily, not really paying attention to her, and then I switched my gaze to Blake, who was watching her with a frown. It seemed like he could sense my gaze because he turned to me, and when he caught me looking at him, shrugged with a 'don't-ask-me' look on his face.

"Taelin?" Turning back to the little Windian girl, I watched as she lined up carrots on one pile of potatoes and peas on the others. "What're you doing?" I was a little unsure about breaking her attention from her 'art' because it could always start another food fight, but at the same time, there was this kind of freaky look of seriousness in her eyes.

"Dwawing dragons." she stated in a distracted voice.

"Dragons?"

My attention turned to Hunter who'd looked up in confusion at her words. Turning back to her work, I could see a pretty vague resemblance to a child's work for dragons...I guess... "Green and orange dragons?" I asked lightly, noticing the veggies she used.

Pausing in her work, Taelin shook her head before picking up her fork and hurriedly removing the veggies from the potatoes. "No." she stated with a pout as her eyes watered a little when she saw that the 'dragons' were ruined from her efforts.

"Well...what color are they?" I asked lightly.

She looked up at me and frowned as her eyes narrowed. I got this sensation that she didn't really trust me asking that question and she shook her head before returning to her food, picking up her slice of meatloaf in her fingers and eating it slowly.

"I guess it's still 'not time'." Blake stated with a shrug.

Hunter grunted and shook his head before glancing briefly at Taelin and returning to his food.

I was torn between continuing eating and just watching her. This little girl knew something. There were so many questions I had, that I really wanted to ask her, but I refrained, biting my lip as I turned back to my food.

"HEY!!"

Jumping at the sudden noise, I looked up to see Taelin giggling away with mashed potatoes covering one of her hands, and switched my gaze to the source of the sound, losing it and laughing uncontrollably when I saw Hunter with a glob of mashed potatoes stuck to the center of his forehead and a little in his hair.

"So much for her liking the potatoes." Blake stated with laughter as he shook his head.

Glaring at us all, Hunter stood up abruptly, wiping potatoes off his face and closed his eyes before turning and storming off.

"Dragon funny." Taelin stated with a giggle.

Turning to her, I frowned and caught that Blake was doing the same. _Dragon?_ Did she mean the clump of mashed potatoes she threw at Hunter?

When he didn't return a moment later, Taelin began to frown, and that frown slowly turned to a pout as her eyes began to water. Turning to Blake, she tugged on his sleeve with messy hands and looked up at him with big watering violet eyes. "Is Hunter mad?" she asked in a quivering voice.

I felt bad for Blake right then. If she'd trusted me more, I would've tried talking to her, but it was all up to him, and I could easily see that he was lost.

"Uh, well... He didn't like having food thrown at him." he offered uncomfortably. Smiling a little he shrugged. "It was funny to us, but I think it hurt his feelings."

Nodding quickly, Taelin hopped down out of her chair and ran out of the room. I couldn't help the smile, knowing that she was going to try and make things right between her and Hunter.

Looking at Blake again, I couldn't help but giggle as I leaned over and picked the carrot out of hsi hair. In return, he grinned and reached out, brushing his fingers against my cheek before picking a pea out of my hair, making me blush deeply.

"Thanks." I muttered, biting my lip as I looked back at my plate.

(Hunter's POV)

Ok, so I've never been the most patient guy in the world, but if I didn't leave right then and there, I was really going to lose it and yell at Taelin. Yeah, I knew she was acting like a normal 3 year old.

I just didn't care to end up wearing her dinner... Again.

So I left. I headed to my room and stripped out of my t-shirt, using it to wipe my face off. Feeling the potatoes in my hair, I couldn't help but groan as I carefully wiped them out as well and frowned.

"_Who's_ idea was it again, to have us taking care of her?" I muttered angrily as I tossed my shirt to the floor and gabbed a clean one, pulling it over my head and settling onto my bed in a huff. Realizing what I'd just done, I closed my eyes tightly and lifted my face to the sky. "Great." I muttered sarcastically.

Trust me, I knew what was coming next.

"Five. Four. Three. Two. One." I muttered with a roll of my eyes as I turned to my closed doorway.

As if on cue, the door burst open and Taelin came racing in, still covered in dinner. I opened my mouth to tell her to stop, but before I could, I ended up with my arms full of a crying little Windian girl, and I could feel the mashed potato-covered hand clinging to the back of my neck, making me wince.

"I'm sowwy!" she cried as she clung to me tightly. "I'm sowwy Hunter!"

Sure, I was still royally irritated, but hearing her sobs and words, and I sighed, feeling my heart melt. I mean, who could stay mad at her? It was easy to tell just how sorry she was. Her wings were hanging down a lot lower than they normally did.

One thing we learned about her was that the position of her wings can give away how she feels. When they're dragging on the ground, it's usually because it's early morning and she's exhausted. If they're lower than normal, but still folded against her back, she's usually feeling bad. Maybe left out, or guilty. And when they were folded neatly, perked up high on her back, that usually meant she was happy, or excited.

"Pwease don be mad." she pleaded.

Looking down at her shaking form, I sighed again and brushed my hand through her hair. "Taelin, you gotta stop this." I stated as firmly as I could. When she looked up at me with tear-stained cheeks and big watery eyes, I shook my head and brushed her tears away. "You're supposed to _eat_ your food." I stated with a raised eyebrow. Wincing again, I wiped the clump of mashed potatoes from the back of my neck and showed it to her. "Not wear it, or make us wear it."

She bit her lip and I could tell she still felt bad, but at the same time, she seemed to be trying to bite back giggles.

"Are Blake and Tori still at the table?" I asked lightly, grabbing the shirt I was wearing before and using it to wipe my hand off before wiping off her hands the best I could.

"Yea. I tink Blake likes Towi." she stated with a thoughtful look and grin.

I raised an eyebrow and laughed a little. "Taelin, he's my brother. I _know_ he likes her." I pointed out. Frowning a little, I decided to bring something up that had been bothering me. "You don't like her, do you? Or Cam, Dustin or Shane?"

Looking away, Taelin's wings drooped a little more and I knew she felt bad. "I don kno her, or dem."

"You took to me and Blake right away." I pointed out with a raised eyebrow. "And you knew us about as well as you know any of them."

Now Taelin's head shook firmly. "No, I new you." she said with a frown. "I new you rite way."

"Knew us right away?" I repeated quietly with a frown. That only confirmed the look of recognition I'd noticed in her eyes, before. "Taelin, what do you mean you 'knew us right away'?"

"I can't tell you." she said softly, her wings hanging almost to the floor. "It's..." Pausing mid-sentence, she bit her lip and looked up at me with watery eyes, full of guilt.

_'It's...'? It's what?_ I thought in confusion, brushing her hair away from her face. My eyes narrowed as I recalled her saying before 'It's not time'. Was that what she was going to say? Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, knowing it was useless to question her about it. Forcing a smile, I nodded as I looked at her again. "It's ok. Listen, you might not know them, but I promise you, you can trust them. Besides, how will you get to know them if you don't try?"

Taelin's face scrunched up a little before she really looked at me. After a moment, she nodded softly. "Ok." she stated.

My smile became more natural, until it turned into a wince at my once clean shirt and the dinner-covered little girl in my arms. "Looks like it's bath-time again." I groaned. _Thankfully, Tori's already here._

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Poor Hunter and Blake. They seem to be the main attraction for food fights. LOL.

I think most of the funniest moments are going to be at key ages, but suggestions are welcome. I love trying to figure out how they'd deal with these situations, you know?

Brief note, you likely won't see Taelin's POV until she hits her teen years, because I don't do children's thoughts well, and while her mind is still growing, I was more or less clueless how to have her POV.

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"The dragons are here! The dragons are here!"

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R+R please

Thank you.

Tenshi


	5. Chapter 5

Long chapter coming up.

I'm betting some of you are wondering about the 'Dragon Clan' and when it comes into play. Well, here you go. I hope you like it.

**GinaStar** - It's ok. I'm glad you like the fic. :) As I may have stated (I don't remember), I like to try different things. Chapter 6 should have a little laughter in it. Oh boy... I had to struggle not to laugh while writing it, since i pictured it happening.

**JuseaPeterson** - Well, we both know Hunter's the broody/testy type, so I can see him struggling not to lose his temper at the little girl, you know? And those moments seemed like a good way to show a little Tori/Blake bonding. I wasn't sure how to do her home life, but after all our talking, it just seemed right for that chapter, and the thoughts hit even me by surprise, but it's something I find myself thinking about, a lot.

I pictured how Hunter was sleeping with Taelin there, her little face buried in his neck and her wings peaking out of the quilt, and I was in full swoon mode, it was just so adorable. I love writing those moments because I can so see it happening. Yeah, I remembered about the families, to a point. It was their physical descriptions and names that got me lost (besides Porter), so I tried to keep it vague about them.

It would be weird, but who else could I pair him with? Kelly's a good choice, but there's a lot with that pairing that bothers me for this fic specifically, so.. Another OC could work, I guess. Do you think there's a way I could play on how weird it is, but have them eventually get past it? I only ask because I want him to end up with someone and don't know who...

Suggestions on different things they could deal with, at the different ages. Things that could be funny or adorable. She's about to enter her teen years, so...

**dragons in our midst** - Yeah, I thought about that too, and planned to do that. LOL. It'll be funny. In fact, I already have the chapter written. I actually just finished writing it about 10 minutes ago. Moodswings are still going to come into play, but it deals with... Well, you'll see. LOL.

**pinklen98** - I know. I think Hunter's cute in any sense. LOL. What can I say? At those ages, I think they loved food fights.

Thank you everyone for your reviews. They managed to keep me working on a single fic, instead of bouncing around! LOL. I really should post others I've started, and see if it helps get my five-foot long list of stories down a little. LOL.

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(Next Day, Normal POV)

"So, she's 8 now?" Hunter asked with an exhausted look. Despite his restful nights, the days were more exhausting than usual, with the added duty of looking after a child. He just finished a shorter-than-usual sparring session with Blake, in which Blake kicked his rear, and was sitting at the table in Ops, watching the little brunette drawing away in the corner of the room.

She'd taken to drawing dragons a lot, but even though Tori had taken pains to get her practically every color crayon there was, she refused to color them. When asked, she would say that yes, they had colors, but she didn't want to color them in.

Today, she draw a ffew different dragons. Still though, the colors didn't help. Oh, she'd taken to coloring them, but she'd color one red, frown and use the black all over it, turning it into a blood red, almost black color, and she still wouldn't be happy. Then she tried a blue one with the same results. Then, of course, there was a little group of people wearing spandex and helmets, in six colors.

Them. Them as the Rangers.

Dustin cooed over it, going on about how he thought it was so pretty, and such, making Taelin giggle at him. Then Tori smacked him on the back of the head, in a joking manner, and Taelin laughed out loud at the pout on his face.

Thankfully, she'd listened to him, and seemed to be giving the others a chance. By no means was she buddy-buddy with a lot of them, yet, but she seemed to be getting closer to Tori and Dustin. Shane and Cam? That...was another story.

Shane was ok, but just didn't seem to draw her like Blake and Hunter, and Cam's constant seriousness almost seemed to frighten her, which made me laugh uncontrollably. He tried to lighten up, and to his credit, he did a pretty good job, but for a little girl...?

Cam turned from the computer and gaze the girl a thoughtful look. "Yeah." he stated simply as he gazed at her.

Hunter wasn't sure if he liked the intense look. He really didn't know what to make of it, and felt his irritation pick up. It was almost like a scrutinizing gaze, or like he was sizing up his next experiement. "Cam..." he almost growled in a warning tone.

Looking at Hunter in confusion, Cam simply raised an eyebrow, gave him a clueless look and turned back to the computer with a shake of his head.

"Taelin." Hunter called in a lighter tone, taking a deep breath and standing up.

The little head popped up and he smiled a little as the pigtail braids flopped against her head and wide violet eyes sparkled at him happily.

"Come on." he said softly as he walked to the stairs.

"Where are you guys going?" Cam asked almost testily.

Glaring over his shoulder at the Samurai, Hunter shrugged. "Figured I'd take her to the track." he said flippiantly before raising an eyebrow. "If that's alright with you...?"

Rolling his eyes, Cam turned to them and crossed his arms over his chest. "And I suppose you have a plan to hide the wings on her back?" He pointed out almost smugly.

_Oh, I _so_ don't need this right now! _With a frown, Hunter closed his eyes deeply, realizing Cam had a point, but he really didn't want to stay here. _I gotta get outta here before I lose it, but I don't wanna leave Taelin behind._

"Hunter...?"

Opening his eyes, he blinked lazily at the set of vioet eyes staring up at him, and the little grin on Taelin's face, before his eyes narrowed and he raised an eyebrow.

Closing her eyes, she seemed to concentrate a moment before glowing white, briefly, and her wings shimmered before disappearing from her back. Once she was done, she wiped a little sweat off her forehead and opened her eyes again, grinning at him brightly. "I figured out how to make my wings go away." she stated with a giggle, stating the obvious.

Staring at her in shock, Hunter found himself noticing just how normal and human she looked without her wings, except for her eyes, and those could easily be explained. Now, with her wings gone, there was nothing really keeping them at Ops, and sending a fairly cocky grin to Cam, he held his hand out to her. "Then let's go. Later Cam."

"Later Cam!" Taelin echoed innocently, obviously not catching his tone. Giggling again, she took Hunter's hand and held it tightly as they made their way up the stairs and walked through the ruined remains of the academy, towards the forest.

"It's so sad..."

Looking at Taelin, Hunter raised an eyebrow. "Sad?" he repeated cluelessly.

"This place was so pretty." she stated in a distracted voice as she looked at the ground. Her eyes were distant and he wasn't sure what to make of it.

Feeling uncomfortable with the sudden silence, Hunter tugged on her hand and lifted her up into the air, smiling at her giggle as he caught her and held her on his shoulder. "So, Tae, you excited to see a race?"

He'd told her about motocross, despite the fact that he knew she wouldn't understand. But still, she got so excited hearing about it, that he ended up promising to take her to a race as soon as they could.

Taelin shifted herself, with the help of Hunter's arms, so that she was more stable, and leaned over to look into his face with a bright smile. "Yeah!" she squealed as she hopped a bit. "And the dragons are coming soon, too!"

That made Hunter pause. "The dragons are coming?"

She kept grinning at him, and he found himself surprised when her eyes didn't glow in warning. "Soon. Really soon." she repeated as she looked up into the woods. "Dusty! Blake!" she called, waving excitedly ahead.

Following her gaze, he saw Dustin and Blake standing by Tori's van, with Tori in the driver's seat, looking at something beside her. "Hey guys!" he called, smirking a little.

"Yo, Hunter! Tae! There's my favorite little Windian!" Dustin stated with a grin, reaching out and poking her in the side when they got close, making her squeal and squirm.

Blake nodded and smiled, watching her, but his smile quickly faded into a look of confusion. "Hey bro...? Where's her wings?"

"I made them go bye-bye!" Taelin squealed with a grin.

Rolling his eyes, Hunter sighed and let her down, looking to the others. "She willed them away." he explained. "And...she mentioned the 'dragons are coming soon'."

Dustin and Blake exhanged confused looks before looking at Taelin, who was looking back happily, not seeming to notice the sudden tension.

Walking over to kneel in front of her, Blake looked her in the eyes. "Taelin, are the dragons dangerous?"

"Silly!" she scolded with a laugh. She poked him in the middle of the forehead and shook her head. "Not to good people. Bad people..." she trailed off and shrugged.

"So we don't need to be worried?" he insisted seriously, despite her cheerful mood.

Pursing her lips, Taelin cocked her head to the side and grinned again. "Nope."

"These dragons..." Hunter said softly, looking at her eyes. "Can you tell us who they are, or if we know them?" He didn't want to pressure her, and figured the collar would kick in if he wasn't careful, but the tension was really getting to him.

Taelin looked at him closely before switching her gaze to Blake. She looked perfectly serious, but after a moment, began to giggle. "Not telling!" she called as she raced to the van and knocked on Tori's door, stepping back as the said blonde opened her door.

"I'd say it's safe to say that was a 'yes' to something." Blake mused out loud. Turning to Hunter, he raised an eyebrow. "Taking her to the track?"

Hunter nodded a little, making his way to the van. As he passed the passenger side, he saw Taelin there and was torn between getting her to move to the next rows of seats back, or leaving her.

Then he frowned as he hopped into the back seat. _I've been so protective of her lately._ He thought in confusion. _I don't understand. Part of me, I know I've grown close to her, but it's something else. It's like a _need_ to be around her, to protect her. And sometimes, it's really weird, because I find myself not even trusting the others around her._

He watched silently as Blake reached forward and tickled her side, making her laugh. _Well, no one but Blake._ Then again, he'd also noticed Blake keeping a closer eye on her, too, like he was afraid of one of the others grabbing her and taking off.

Just what was going on?

(Track, Tori's POV)

Everything's been weird lately, and it all started when we found Taelin.

No, I'm not angry or jealous... Ok, maybe a _little_ jealous, although I'm sure I have no reason to be. It's just... Blake's been so protective of her for some reason. Yeah, I get that Hunter's the same way, and that's what makes it so weird.

Hunter's not one to let someone in that easily. I mean, I think we can all see that barrier around his heart. Blake is the same, but a lot more trusting when it comes to other people. Hunter's got this constant fear about him, of being hurt again. Plus, with how loyal he is to Blake, anything that could change their lifestyle is instantly seen as a threat to him.

I easily remembered the way he was distant with us. Opening up to a degree, but seeming wary about trusting us.

Now Taelin...she's been with us a couple of days, took to Hunter and Blake right away, and now they seem to have taken to her, as well. They spend a lot of their free time with her, playing with her or just hanging out. Sure, I've been invited to hang out with them, but I mean, Blake doesn't come to his surfing lessons that often anymore, and doesn't ride as much as he used to.

But I'm not angry. She's just a little girl. Ok, ok. So she's a little girl that will be adult in probably close to another week, but she's still a little girl _now_.

I'm just weirded out.

I mean, one time, I offered to take Taelin to the beach, to a more secluded area where no one else was, and Blake _insisted_ on keeping her with him that day while he meditated in Ops, and Hunter was sparring. He had to know she'd be happier at the beach than sitting there with a tranced out ninja, but when I brought it up, I got a bit of a glare before Blake told me, as nicely as he could, that he wasn't going to change his mind.

He even pointed out that Lothor could easily attack us on the way, or while we were there... And when I brought up our ninja streaking and stuff, he went into car crashes, muggers and more. Talk about being ridiculous!

_What happened to trusting us?_ I thought as I looked to the ground. Looking to the little girl holding mine and Dustin's hands as we walked to the race line, I knew that was unfair of me and felt instantly bad for thinking it.

It's just... The look in Hunter and Blake's eyes when they parted for the race. It was a wary, almost warning look to both me and Dustin.

_Me _and _Dustin._

_Friends._

What did they think we were going to do? We did agree to help take care of her, after all, so why the sudden reluctance to trust us?

"Tori?"

Blinking a moment, I felt my face heat up as I looked into Taelin's shimmering violet eyes. Forcing a smile, I knelt down to her level. "Yeah?"

She stared at me so seriously for a moment before tilting her head to the side a little, letting go of Dustin's hand to pull down her purple t-shirt. "Don't be upset at them." she said quietly.

"Up-Upset?" I asked akwardly. _Can she read my mind or something?_

"You feel bad, like you're angry or sad." she said. "Don't be."

Looking to the ground, I knew she was right, but it didn't make me feel any better. I was still confused as to why they were acting like that, and what was going on. "I just don't get it." I stated quietly. "Why...?" Shaking my head, I looked into her eyes and jumped a little to see her grinning.

"Don't worry." she insisted before turning to Dustin and tugging on his pant leg.

Remembering Dustin was there, I looked up to see him looking away from the racers and stood up with a smile as he picked her up into his arms. Realizing he hadn't picked up on anything, I sighed silently, in relief. _Good old, oblivious Dustin. _I thought as I watched the bikers lining up for the race.

"Now Tae, you're gonna hear a whistle and loud bang. It just gets the race started." Dustin explained as simply as he could, so she wouldn't be frightened by the sound.

As if on cue, there was a shrill whistle and a loud bang, and Taelin looked frightened, hurriedly burying her face into Dustin's neck and shaking as she clung to him for dear life.

"Taelin, you're missing the race!" I called as I rubbed her back and turned to watch the bikes race by.

I guess, for a lot of people, they couldn't see the thrill to motocross. Being in it, or watching it. I could. I mean, watching the bikes sail in and out, between each other, jumping hills and sliding low on their sides as they turned corners. It was kind of neat.

Well, as long as it wasn't muddy and you were standing a safe distance away.

But it was also so dangerous, and watching as Blake sailed by, flying over the jumps like he didn't even notice them, I felt my heart racing in excitement and fear. All it took was one small slip, and his life would be over, but as much as I knew he knew that, it didn't stop him from racing often, or loving it. As much as I was afraid, I knew it was his dream.

He once told me it was like being invulnerable and completely vulnerable at the same time. I mean, racing so fast that you could feel the wind trying to push you back, and the sand and dirt felt ten times heavier as they hit you, but you also felt so free... Like nothing could touch you. But then, times like when the bike slid a little lower than it should, you'd find yourself praying that you'd make it out alright, knowing your life was hanging in the balance.

"Tae-tae, come on!" Dustin cried. "Hunter wanted you to see the race. You gotta watch it or you'll hurt his feelings!"

Her little brunette head turned a little and she watched as the bikes sailed by. Turning a little more, I noticed the frown on her face as her eyes darted around.

"Taelin? What's wrong?" I asked, turning to face her.

She looked at me with big violet eyes before they darted around. "Something bad's coming." she said softly, in a voice filled with fear.

"Something bad?" Dustin repeated with a frown.

Looking at me, we both nodded and began to make our way to where we were supposed to meet Hunter and Blake. I knew that with how protective of Taelin they were, as soon as they noticed we weren't at the line, they'd leave the race to come looking for us.

As we left the crowded areas, we waited silently out of sight until I knew it was clear, and contacted Shane and Cam over my morpher, letting them know what Taelin said. In response, I got some mumbo-jumbo about raised negative energies and such from Cam, and a blunt 'We're on our way' from Shane.

"It's coming closer." Taelin muttered with a shiver as she clung to Dustin more tightly.

Turning to her, I smiled, vaguely hearing the announcer mentioning the unusual withdrawl of the two riders that I recognized as Hunter and Blake. "It's ok Tae, we'll protect you."

"I want the dragons." she stated with watery eyes.

"Well... Where are they?" I asked in confusion. "You said they were coming soon?"

"I have to call on them." Taelin replied vaguely as she looked around. "I want Hunter and Blake."

I felt my heart clench painfully, feeling hurt that she didn't feel safe with us, but I also knew she had an unusual bond with those two, so despite my hurt, I understood totally. "They're already on their way." I said softly with a forced smile as we continued to the meeting point in the field.

Thinking about it, I began to question things. There were a lot of strange comments and actions from Taelin, Hunter and Blake, and I knew i should be able to fit them together and get what's going on. I mean, it was like a puzzle.

Taelin's mentioning the dragon, when she threw the mashed potatoes at Hunter. Her drawings of the dragons, all the time. The unusual bond between those three. The way Hunter and Blake suddenly seemed to become so protective of her.

Her eyes glowing and telling us it 'wasn't time'. When she finally mentioned the dragons coming...

I could go on. What's weird was that it all seemed linked, like...

Feeling my eyes go wide as a thought hit me, I turned to Taelin, watching as her frightened eyes looked frantically for Hunter and Blake. _It can't be..._ I thought in disbelief.

"Taelin!" Hunter's voice shouted from nearby.

"Tor! Dustin!" Blake's echoed.

Turning back to the guys, I watched as Taelin squirmed until Dustin put her down and she raced over to Hunter, who picked her up and sat her on the seat of his bike. He smiled a little at her until he noticed her face and it immediately turned into a look of worry. "What's wrong, Tae?" he asked in concern as he wiped a tear off her face.

"Bad things coming." she stated as she shook, launching forward and burying her face into his chest and crying.

Looking past us, Blake frowned and hopped off his bike quickly, setting the stand down and throwing his helmet away. "Actually, I'd say 'bad things' here." he growled as he took up a defensive stand.

Spinning around, I saw a fist heading for my face and instinctively ducked it, spinning away and kicking out in counterattack, sending the kelzack flying. "And I'd agree with you." I stated grimly.

Behind us stood a small hoarde of kelzacks, and I winced at the number, knowing we'd definitely need our powers to fight them.

But, with all the people around, we couldn't afford to morph just yet. So instead, we were forced to fight hand to hand in civie form.

Leaving Taelin on his bike, Hunter hopped off and threw his helmet at a kelzack, kicking it in the stomach when it caught it and paused to look at it. This caused Taelin to giggle happily, and Hunter turned, saluting her a little with a grin before ducking a punch.

Cam and Shane showed up together, jumping into the middle of the battle, already morphed, and taking out a fair number of them. As they distracted the kelzacks, the rest of us took the chance to morph.

After a few moments, we were painfully thrown back in a line, against the bikes.

"There's too many!" I called as I clutched my side.

Dustin groaned as he clutched his stomach on the ground, in too much pain to stand back up again.

Shane nodded wearily as he stood shakily, ignoring a bleeding cut on his arm. "Dude, I'm with you, but what can we do?!"

"They're not your normal kelzacks!" Cam called as he pointed to what looked like a strange parasite attached to the throat of one of them.

"Well, I kinda figured that." I called back testily.

Blake was held by two of them as Hunter was thrown to the ground, painfully, and laid there, also in too much pain to stand back up again.

Turning to Taelin, I watched as she shook her head, her body trembling. Her wings were back and shook violently as they stood out from her sides, as thought she was mantling, and her face was stained with tears.

Suddenly, she hopped off the bike and floated in place. "Dragon knights! Help us, please!" she called out desperately, tears coursing down her face. "Help them! Please, wake up!"

There was a burst of light, and I turned, gasping in shock as a large group of kelzacks were blown back. As the light faded, I blinked in shock. _I guess I was right._ I thought.

Floating in place, back to back, were Hunter and Blake, morphed, with large dragon wings sprouting from their backs and metallic armor in their respective colors, covering their lower arms, legs and chest. Also, their thunderstaffs on their backs had turned into old fashioned-looking swords of silver with rubies and sapphires inlaid into the hilts.

Lowering to the ground, the wings folded neatly against their backs as they turned to the kelzacks. Then, without a word, they launched forward with moves that left the rest of us blinking blankly as we tried to figure out what happened.

I mean, Hunter and Blake were pulling off mega-advanced katas with amazing grace and ease, sometimes combining unusual moves, and working together in unity, as if they could read each other's minds.

Jumping back from a large group of these weird kelzacks, Hunter raised his hand to the sky and a lightning blast, combined with fire, shot out of the ground and hit them, destroying them completely.

Blake followed his brother's lead on the other, remaining kelzacks. But when he raised his hand, it was a lightning blast accompanied by ice, from the sky.

Watching as the monsters faded and Hunter and Blake turned towards us, I was a little lost as to what to say or do at the moment.

They powered down, but the wings remained, and I took a step back involuntarily as I noticed their eyes were glowing crimson and navy. They looked in my direction, and I felt distinctly uncomfortable by their wary gazes, until I realized they weren't looking at me.

Hunter knelt down on one knee, seemingly not noticing the big wings on his back or that he was in his ninja leathers, and a little blur with wings raced past me, leaping into his arms and holding him tightly.

An embrace he easily returned.

"The dragons are here! The dragons are here!" Taelin cried happily. "And Hunter and Blake are ok!"

I blinked against as the said men frowned together and exchanged a look. Closing their eyes, they seemed to concentrate, and like Taelin, they made their wings disappear. Once they opened their eyes, I noticed they were back to their normal colors and let out the breath I didn't even know I was holding.

Still, I caught Blake's eyes dart to me questioningly, with a freaked out look, and felt my face heating up as he looked back to the others.

Hunter glanced at Blake before looking back to Taelin and sighing. "Oh, joy..." he muttered sarcastically. "I'm guessing Cam has about a billion tests and questions to run on us now." Turning to the morphed Green Ranger, Hunter gave him a warning look. "And before you ask, we have no idea what just happened."

"I do!" Taelin chirped happily. "I woke the dragons up!"

Everyone turned to her, and I had this overwhelming feeling that we were all thinking the same thing.

_What did she just do?_

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Ok, first of all, I'm jumping between 2 or 3 years with every age jump or this fic would never end. LOL. Plus, you're not always going to have hilarious things with every age, and if you do, sorry. I couldn't think of anything. I'm not mentioning clothing shipping and bathing and such, just cause... Well, clothing shopping I didn't think of, and bathing, I just don't wanna get into.

Second, I know Tori wouldn't likely get jealous, but this isn't a normal little girl. Blake is suddenly showing a lot more interest in her safety and happiness, and I wanted to play on how Tori would feel in the change of lifestyle.

I figured you all probably understood who the Dragon Clan were from the beginning, but I wanted to play on the fact that Tori could be pretty smart at times, too. So I wanted her to kind of figure it out before it was revealed.

Now, Hunter and Blake are going to have fun trying to deal with all new abilities and such. Explanations on some of that should be really soon.

And who do you want to see Hunter end up with?

Taelin... It could be akward.

Kelly... There's a lot she doesn't know and with him working for her... Plus I just don't know how to get them together.

Another OC... How would I introduce her?

Hope you like it.

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"Hunter! I'm bleeding!"

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	6. Chapter 6

**star-dreamer09** - Yeah, I had that nagging thought in my head, about how they are like older brothers to her. Hmm, ok, an OC it is then. I'm glad you like the fic so far. :)

**JuseaPeterson** - Yeah, I was lost on how to portray Tori's feelings. Part of her knows it's an over-protective brother thing, and she's figured out that it's likely also due to the fact that they are of the dragon clan, but at the same time... It still hurts, you know? I was totally blank at that point and had to re-write that scene a few times to get it going alright.

It's ok, I know what you mean and it helps because I want to try and keep the characters in character.

No, Hunter/Taelin would be akward at best. Hunter/Kelly, how would he explain taking care of a woman with wings, or her odd personality? I mean, she can't hide what she really is, forever. Plus, with Hunter working for Kelly (Which he is, even if I haven't mentioned it), like you mentioned for one of my other fics, it could cause problems for them.

**Gracey** - I'm glad you liked the story. Personally, I'd love to put Hunter with Taelin, and that's what I originally planned on happening, but the more I think about it, the more I'm not sure I could write it if I wanted to. I mean, all the akward moments and such... I'd love to find a way to make it work, but no matter how I look at it, they have a type of sibling relationship.

An OC would probably be the best bet. Maybe... Hmm... (Begins brainstorming)

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(Ops, Later, Hunter's POV)

"Ok, you've all got questions... Shoot." I stated with a sigh, rubbing my hands over my eyes as I bit back a yawn. _Talk about feeling drained..._ Ever since our little..._transformation_, I've felt completely exhausted.

"Well, actually..." Tori bit her lip and I got the distinct impression she was fairly confused, but also, a little uncomfortable. Ok, maybe not _a little_. "I kinda figured it out, just before it happened. I mean, Taelin kept talking about dragons, and you guys. There were just a lot of connections, but I still..." She trailed off and shrugged with a confused face.

Like the others, I don't think she knew _how_ she was supposed to feel.

Dustin frowned deeply and scratched at the back of his head. "So like, you're both dragons..." He stated, reminding us all of the obvious. "Like, I guess that explains why Taelin was so drawn to you right away."

"Yeah, she did say she knew us right away." I recalled vaguely, our discussion about Tori and the others.

"What does this mean?" Shane asked warily, not looking at either Blake or I, but at Cam instead.

Something in his tone stated that he didn't really trust us at the moment, and it was like I could smell it. Actually, I could smell a lot. And hear a lot. "Bro..." Turning to Blake, I frowned. "Is it me or is everything still weird?"

Blake's eyes were narrowed, and I got the impression he was focusing on something, but after a moment he nodded. "Yeah. Everything's...sharper, stronger." he stated as he wrinkled his nose and closed his eyes tightly.

"What do you mean?" Cam asked in his professional tone, already getting into info-gathering mode.

Raising an eyebrow at him, I was sorely tempted to tell him off, or give back a sarcastic comment, but Blake nudged me firmly and shook his head.

_**Not with Taelin here.**_

Blinking a moment, I was about to question my sanity when the look in his eyes showed that his thoughts agreed with that statement. Then I blinked again as I took a moment to process the fact that ever since the transformation, I was able to hear Blake's voice...

...In my head.

"Dude!" I cried, jumping into a standing postion, completely freaked. Turning to Blake, I shook my head violently. "Would you _please_ not do that?!"

_**It's not like I**_ "can help it." he muttered quietly.

"Ok, can someone please tell us all what's going on?!" Shane demanded with a slight glare.

Glaring right back, I felt my body go rigid and forced myself to calm down as I sat back down. "Well, for one, I can hear Blake's voice in my head." I stated as I looked at the table.

"Ditto." he replied with a nod. "And it's really freaky."

"Another thing is that, it's like all our senses have gone hyper active." I tried to explain, as bluntly and simply as I could.

"Maybe Taelin can explain." Tori said as she looked at the little girl.

Immediately, I felt my arm going around her and felt myself glaring at Tori. "Don't." I growled quietly, feeling power surging through me. Everyone looked at me in confusion and I closed my eyes tightly again, trying to sort through my messed up senses. "She's only 8. What can she explain?"

"Hunter's right." Sensei stated wisely, hopping on to the table and speaking up, finally. "Taelin is yet too young to understand any of this." Turning to Blake and me, he scratched his furry chin and I barely kept from making a face when the sound seemed to echo through the room, although I knew the others wouldn't hear it. "Hmmm... Can you explain what you meant by your senses?"

I looked to Blake, who seemed to understand the hidden meaning, and he nodded in reply.

"Well, first of all, I can hear your hearts beating." He frowned deeply and looked at the table. "And it's like it's echoing through my head. I can't make out who's heartbeat is who's. Then, I can almost feel the tension, stronger than what I'm used to."

"Everything I look at is in sharper detail. It's clearer." I added as I looked at the others, noting how they all seemed uncomfortable by my gaze. "I can smell earth and dirt on Dustin, motor oil. There's a really faint hint of perfume on Tori..." I trailed off as the others seemed to grow even more uncomfortable at this, and bit back a sigh.

"Hmmm..." Sensei seemed to think about it. "For now, I suggest you and Blake remain here, from training, and I will teach you meditation techniques to help you control those senses." he stated firmly. "And Taelin is coming of age that she should also learn some meditation and such, but that will come after."

Speaking of Taelin, the little girl was drawing again. Only this time, she drew two Thunder Rangers with dragon wings and that unusual new armor.

_**Why did this happen?**_

Again I heard Blake's voice in my head and jumped a little to find him staring at Taelin. I don't even think he was aware that I was hearing what he was thinking and such.

_**Why us? Why now?**_

"Bro." I muttered quietly.

His head spun to me and his eyes widened a moment before he frowned and sighed, shaking his head. "Sorry bro."

Reaching past Taelin, I patted his arm lightly and offered a weak grin. I opened my mouth to say something, only to find myself at a loss for words. I mean, it was like our whole world just changed. What was I supposed to say to that?

(Next Morning)

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Bolting upright in my bed, I think I literally left it as I found myself almost flying through the air, to land in a fairly ungraceful heap on the floor. Rubbing my lower back, I frowned and looked around, trying to make sense of a lot of things.

First of all, my room really needed to be aired out. Maybe it was because of the laundry, but man...this place reeked! Why didn't I notice this before?!

Second, I looked out the window to see the sun was still down. So... Why could I see clearly, like it was day? Everything was still sharp and in focus.

Then there was the sound of feet running up the hall, a pounding heartbeat, and heavy panting. With it came a smell of salt water and...

I felt my eyes widen as I bolted upright and ran to my door, throwing it open as a now pre-teen Taelin came running to me in tears. "What's wrong?!" I demanded loudly as Blake's door flew open.

I followed an almost blinding beam of light to the bathroom, and noticed little red spots on the floor, trailing behind the crying Windian girl.

"I'm dying!" she cried as she looked at the floor.

My heart skipped a beat at that _WHAT?!?!_

Blake winced visibly and rubbed his temples. _**Holy... **_"Bro!" he shouted, making me jump. "You mind not yelling?" he repeated quieter.

Oh yeah, I forgot we could hear each other's thoughts...

Disconcerting...

My head shot back to Taelin and I followed her gaze to the floor, blinking absently when I noticed a couple of red droplets on the carpet, under her. Narrowing my eyes, I smelled that it was blood, and saw a small streak of it down her leg, from the edge of her knee-length nightgown.

"I'm bleeding!" she cried, launching herself forward and wrapping her arms around my waist.

I blinked for a moment.

"Hunter! I'm bleeding!!!" she yelled in terror. "I'm dying! I'm gonna die!!"

I blinked again and slowly closed my eyes as my face began to heat up. It finally hit me what was going on, and I was torn between laughing and being about as mortified as humanly possible. Then, the smell of her tears and obvious terror made the decision for me.

Kneeling down in front of her, I gently took her face and smiled at her. "It's ok sweetie." I stated softly. Glancing to Blake out of the corner of my eye, I saw him on the phone and clearly heard him talking to Tori. "You're not gonna die." I stated as reassuringly as I could.

She hiccuped a bit and looked at me with scared violet eyes as she wiped her face. "B-But... But I'm..."

"Bleeding." I stated, feeling my face heat up even more. "Yes, I know." _I can smell and see that._ I thought wryly. "But it's ok. You're ok."

"Uh, Tae...?"

I looked to see Blake kneeling beside me, his face a cherry red and his eyes radiating his embarrassment, making me question how I probably looked.

"Listen, Tori's on her way here now." He stated akwardly. "And I'm gonna go wait for her." he stated as he grinned. "So Hunter here..." He patted my arm in good nature, but took a good look at my face and backed off immediately, literally stepping back a bit. "He's uh...He's gonna explain." he offered in a squeak, before waving and taking off.

If I didn't know any better, I'd have sworn he ninja streaked out of here.

Then again, with the glare I knew I was giving him, I wouldn't be surprised if he was. I mean, he just left me here to explain to... I wrinkled my forehead a moment. _How old is she now?_ Shaking my head, I sighed and tried to give Taelin a comforting smile, but she didn't look convinced.

"Um... Ok then." I stated as I took a deep breath. _Bro, remind me to _kill_ you later, for this._ I thought darkly. Taking her hand, I stood up and looked up and down the hallway, scratching the back of my head nervously. "Oh boy." I grumbled quietly. _Now what...?_ Take her to the bathroom to get cleaned up, or the living room for a talk...

"Hunter... It hurts." Taelin whimpered, clenching her legs together and holding her stomach.

_I don't doubt it._ I thought absently. _Ok, think girly... What would Tori do...?_ I bit back a grin, knowing she'd beat me senseless if she knew what I'd just thought. Turning to the bathroom, I gently dragged Taelin back and told her to go inside, closing the door firmly behind her. Next, I hesitated, clenching my fists and wondering if my face would literally explode from embarrassment, and told her to ball up some toilet paper for now, to stop the bleeding. _How in the world to they deal with this?! Tor, would you hurry up and get here already??!!_

"Why am I bleeding? I don't understand." she whimpered

_Any time now, Tor. This isn't funny anymore._ I thought in irritation. _God, how am I supposed to explain this to a little girl?_ Shaking my head, I closed my eyes tightly. "It's...natural." _Oh yeah, that's real reassuring._ Rolling my eyes, I slid down the wall to a sitting position. "It's a normal thing." I started, my need to reassure her, overcoming my akwardness.

A bit.

"It's, uh... It usually starts about now...for women... Um, at this age." _Oh god, this is embarrassing!_ "It'll only happen for a few days every month. Um... It's uh... It's called a period." I winced and looked at the floor, debating on whether or not I could convince Tori to move in here with Blake. "It's ok. You'll be ok. It's nothing bad."

"It'll happen again??"

I blinked at the barely concealed horror in Taelin's voice and remained silent a moment. "Uh, yeah."

Tori and Blake chose that time to come in and I glared at Blake before bolting into a standing position. "Took you guys long enough." I hissed quietly.

Holding up a plastic bag, Tori smiled sweetly before opening it, reaching in and pulling out a bag of pads. "You wanna teach her how to use these?" she asked in a mock sweet voice.

I blinked a moment before taking a step back and shaking my head violently, turning and bolting back to my room and closing my door firmly before leaning against it. I could hear Tori's laughter as it faded, and I heard the bathroom door open and shut.

"Uh, it's safe...?" Blake offered weakly.

Closing my eyes, I counted to ten before opening them and leaving the safety of my room. "Why..." Shaking my head, I stared into Blake's eyes. "Why in god's name did you leave _me_ to deal with that?!" I hissed.

"Because...you're closer to her than me?" he offered with a sheepish shrug.

I glared at him again before turning and going back into my room slamming the door shut and falling face first on to my bed, wondering how things could possibly get any more embarrassing.

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(Snickers) ... (Giggles)... Oh god, that was hilarious to write! (Busts up laughing)

Can you... (Gasps for breath) Can you just see Hunter dealing with that?!?! (Busts up laughing again) And... And Tori's response... (Falls over laughing)

Oh maaaaaan... (Takes several deep breaths). Ok, I hope you liked it. (Snickers)

On a serious note, my computer is in really bad shape. It even quit on me today, but I managed to get it working again with the help of a friend. Basically, I'm done keeping even one finished but not posted chapter on my computer, seeing as how I almost lost two.

So my computer is iffy, but as long as it works, I'll work on the fic.

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"I heard you had a pretty...sticky situation."

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R+R please

Thank you.

Tenshi


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer** : I don't own Angie. The name came out of nowhere, but...yeah...

Ok, first of all, I just wanted to do some ribbing in this chapter, so if Dustin or Shane's comments seem OOC, I apologize. I'm trying to keep them as in character as I can, but at the same time... Well, I dunno. LOL.

And I'm also planning to introduce an OC in this chapter. It just came out of nowhere, and I have an idea of how to introduce her to the Rangers, the rest I'm going to make up as I go along. (Mutteres quietly) A lot like the rest of this story... I really need to have a set plan... LOL

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(Ops, Normal POV)

Moodswings. Don't you just love them? One moment, Taelin's happy, the next, she's giving glares that rivaled Hunter's and Cam's. It made a person wonder where she got those looks from, but then remembering who raised her...

So Hunter decided he liked not having a little girl with wings glaring at him, and remained silent as they walked through the forest to Ops.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your point of view, some people didn't get the hint.

"Hey Hunter!" Shane called from his sparring spot with Dustin, a few feet away. "I heard you had a pretty...sticky situation." Grinning a little, he shook his head and laughed quietly.

Hunter... Didn't see the humor, and glared at him with eyes that tinted crimson in his anger. Stalking silently over to the Red Ranger, he got right up in his face and narrowed his eyes. "I'd like to see you do any better." he hissed warningly.

Shane looked surprised at the resonse for a moment before his own eyes narrowed and he took a step closer to Hunter, his competitive side getting the better of him.

Dustin stepped in between them quickly, and pushed them apart, looking at Shane. "Dude, at least he handled it, right? I mean, didn't Blake run off?"

Ok, Hunter knew Dustin meant well, but that sentence came out all wrong, and he felt his anger rising even more. Snarling a little, he got into the Earth Ranger's face and glared even harder at him.

As annoyed as Hunter was at Blake, he was still his little brother.

"You have something to say?" Hunter growled.

"Stop it!"

The trio spun to look at the source of the angry yell, in surprise, and saw Taelin floating in place, her hands glowing with energy and a massive glare on her normally sweet face.

"Just stop it! All of you!" she yelled as she loated to the ground and the energy faded. Her wings hung low on her back and tears began to flow down her face as she crouched down on the ground and began to cry.

Sending the two Winds a look that stated 'See what you did?', Hunter quickly walked over and picked her up, holding her tightly despite her protests as he carried her to the underground headquarters.

Left behind, both Shane and Dustin looked to the ground. Shane understood what he did and felt bad for not only getting riled up at Hunter, but for embarrassing Taelin. Dustin understood that what he said came out all wrong. What got him was that normally, Hunter knew what he _meant_ despite what he said, and didn't get riled up so easily.

Then he remembered the whole dragon thing and understood completely.

Down in Ops, Taelin was glaring angrily at Hunter from the corner of the room, and the said Thunder Ranger sighed in irritation as he turned to Cam. "If anything happens to her..." he warned before closing his eyes tightly and shaking his head. He knew nothing would happen to her, and knew he had to trust his friends more. It was the dragon sense of protection that got him going, and he knew he was hurting others.

"Don't worry Hunter." Cam stated sympathetically. For once, he understood the blonde ninja's actions and decided not to snap at him.

Blinking in surprise at the lack of a sarcastic comeback, Hunter nodded slowly. "Sorry." he stated quietly before walking down the hall to the meditation room Sensei and his brother were in. Hopefully, he'd have a better handle on these new enhanced senses, soon, before he ended up chasing everyone away.

(Tori's POV)

Sitting in the warm sand, at the beach, I sighed, knowing Hunter and Blake were meditating with Sensei right now. He gave us the day off training because of it, and the first thing I did was make sure I had my board and bathing suit, before heading out here.

But now that I was here, I just wasn't sure what I wanted to do.

Ever since the transformation at the track, I've found myself thinking a lot. I mean, on one hand, it hurt to have Blake and Hunter placing Taelin so high on their list of priorities. No, that's not right... That I understood.

With a frown I rubbed my hand through my hair and looked out over the swells. "What am I doing?" I asked softly in confusion. _I shouldn't be worrying about this... I should be out there, surfing off my stress and trusting them to do what's right._ But still... I couldn't help the pain I felt.

I mean, it was like a slap in the face, that Blake and Hunter didn't seem to trust as anymore. Well, they did, but not the way they used to. I know they didn't mean it, and I know it had a lot to do with the dragon parts of them, and I _understood_, but... That didn't mean it hurt any less.

The sound of splashing drew my attention and shaking my head out of my thoughts, I looked out over the water, finding a form swimming among the swells.

Then I narrowed my eyes, straining to see clearer and jumped to my feet. "They're not swimming!" I cried in horror as I took off out into the water.

The splashing figure was waving their arms frantically, but at the same time, kept going under. It was clear they couldn't swim.

"Hang on!" I cried as I paddled as fast as I could to their side. Upon getting closer, I paused for a brief moment, noticing that it was a young woman about my age, but what got me was that it was no ordinary woman. Shaking my head, I swam closer, already questioning what else was going to happen today. "It's ok!" I called as I wrapped a hand losely around her throat, sliding it under one of her arms and forcing her to float on her back. "I've got you!"

"No! Let me go!" she cried as she struggled more.

She succeeded in dragging us both under for a moment and I kicked hard, managing to bring us both back to the surface. "Stop that, or you're gonna make us both drown!" I shouted. "I'm trying to help you!"

The young woman paused in her struggles and seemed wary about me, but reluctantly relaxed and I carefully dragged her back in to shore with me. She had long, light brown hair and almost navy blue eyes, and a pale, scared face.

Once we were in shallower water, she jumped away from me and backed off several feet, crouching low to the ground and glaring at me with glowing white eyes, large, white dragon wings spread wide behind her in a clear sign to stay away. "Who are you?!" she demanded shakily as she staggered back a step. "What do you want?!"

I could only stare in shock at her as I slowly processed that she seemed to be a Dragon Clan member like Hunter and Blake. Shaking my head a little, I raised my hands in a sign of peace and gave a weak smile. "It's ok. My name's Tori Hanson."

"What do you want?" she repeated in a slightly calmer voice, her stance letting up s the glow faded from her eyes. Closing her eyes a moment she seemed to sniff the air before turning back to me. "You don't smell like a Dragon Clan member."

My face began to heat up as it hit me that she was just smelling _me_, and I opened my mouth to say something when voices cut me off.

"Tori!"

Spinning in place, I saw the others running up to me, lacking Taelin and Cam. Hunter and Blake were easily in the lead and Hunter wore a look of anger and confusion as his eyes settled on the girl across from me. Blake held the same look, but if I wasn't mistaken, I could've sworn I saw a hint of protectiveness there as well. I _know_ I saw relief when his eyes scanned me, obviously to make sure I wasn't hurt.

"Who are you?!" Hunter demanded of the girl, standing beside me in a crouch, like she had done earlier.

Blake moved to my other side, but also stood a little in front of me, as if acting like a shield. He remained quiet, but the questioning look on his face was clear enough.

Hesitating a moment, the girl's eyes narrowed in clear confusion before she slowly stood up, her wings folding neatly against her back.

It suddenly hit me just how public we were and I looked around quickly, noticing that no one else was on the beach. _...Huh?_ I thought in confusion. I mean, it was a clear day out, and the swells were perfect for surfers, so... Where was everyone?

Glancing quickly to the strange girl, I wondered if she had anything to do with it, or was it just an eerie coincidence?

"You're...like me." she stated as she tilted her head a little. Her long brown hair was matted and knotted from her battle with the waves, and she akwardly brushed it out of her face as she stared at the Thunders. "I'm Angie."

Hunter and Blake exchanged wary looks before turning back to her and letting up their stances. Still, they remained silent and I had the feeling, they didn't know whether or not to trust her.

Well, I couldn't blame them. After all, we _did_ just meet her.

"You're a Dragon Clan, too?" Shane asked with a frown, as he crossed his arms over his chest.

She looked at him with a confused frown before sniffing the air again. I wasn't sure why she was sniffing like that, probably to see if he was Dragon Clan, but whatever it was, she nodded after a moment, seemingly satisfied by something.

"You..." She pointed to me, Dustin and Shane in turn. "You're not Dragon Clan, but you're all close to them." she stated almost knowingly as she pointed to Hunter and Blake. Then her eyes locked on me and switched back and forth between me and Blake. "Especially you two. You two are really close."

My eyes widened and I glanced at Blake to see him looking down shyly with a clear blush. Feeling my own face heat up, I looked down as well, and bit my lip, not saying a word.

"Enough with the small talk." Hunter growled with a glare. "What're you doing here?"

She raised an eyebrow a moment, her wings mantling a little before she seemed to remember she had them. Closing her eyes, she willed them away before opening her eyes again and folding her arms over her chest. "Uh, I live here." she stated dryly. "Have for years now."

That brought up a ton of questions immediately, especially since I could swear she was hiding something. "Then why were you out in the water, when you obviously couldn't swim?" I asked absently, not really meaning to sound rude.

Her eyebrow shot up even farther and she blushed a little. She opened her mouth to say something but seemed to realize it wasn't a good idea, so she closed it again and sighed heavily, looking to the ground. "Ok, you got me." Her dry tone was replaced with a quieter one. "I came to Blue Bay because I sensed the presence of two Dragon Clan members. Until now I always thought I was the only one."

Hunter frowned with narrowed eyes, still seemingly not ready to believe her, but Blake let up his stance a little. "So, you came to see if there were more people like you?" he asked uncertainly.

She nodded with a weak smile. "I was flying through the air, trying to avoid everyone, and still get a good look at the ground. I must've been flying for a while, because next thing I knew, my wing was cramping up and I was falling towards the ocean."

"And what're you gonna do, now that you know we're here?" Hunter asked with a frown as he stood up and crossed his arms over his chest.

Now she frowned and seemed unsure. "I...didn't think of that." she admitted quietly. "My home is hours away and I don't have the energy to make it back tonight."

There was something in her voice that stated she really didn't _want _to go back. I guess I understood. She finally found more people like her, so she wanted to be near them.

Looking to the others, I watched them all exchange glances and I felt my eyes widen to see Cam walking up behind us with Taelin. I think Hunter must've sensed them as well because he let out a low growl and spun in place, leveling a pretty nasty glare at Cam.

"What're you doing?! We don't know if we can trust her! She could be lying! She could be working for Lothor!" he yelled angrily, looking guilty as Taelin took a step back and her eyes watered.

"Hey!"

Everyone spun to find Angie glaring darkly at Hunter. "You don't know me! Don't you dare state I'm a liar or working for some loser named Lofor!" she stated with her hands on her hips.

_Lofor?_ I thought, biting back a giggle. I glanced at the others, silently, and watched as many of their faces formed broad grins.

"And how do we know you're not?!" Hunter demanded angrily, stalkig up and getting in to her face.

"Hey, you're Dragon Clan!" Taelin yelled excitedly as they reached us. "Cool! Another Dragon!"

"_Not_ cool!" Hunter growled lowly, glaring at the newcomer in a way that clearly stated she wasn't welcome.

"Bro, I think you should relax." Blake stated quietly, firmly. "And put your wings away." Apparently, he'd already done so.

Staring at Blake silently a moment, Hunter sighed deeply and nodded slowly, reluctantly, folding his wings on his back before using his powers to hide them. "I just don't trust her." he stated quietly.

"God!" Angie groaned loudly. "What did I ever do to you?! You are such a jerk!" she yelled, stomping her foot angrily and turning her back on us in a huff.

I raised an eyebrow at her actions, but to be honest, kind of agreed. Ok, so maybe we might not all trust her, but we weren't about to state it openly, right in front of her.

Blinking a moment at her, Hunter turned and walked over to Taelin, kneeling down in front of her. After talking to her quietly, he sighed and turned to Cam, to see what he'd say.

"Well, I have to agree with Hunter that we don't know much about you." the Green Ranger stated slowly. "But my name is Cameron Watanabi. I actually have a few questions for you, if you'd care to take the time to answer them."

Shaking her head, Angie turned back around and eyed us all warily before sighing heavily and shrugging. "As long as it's not tall, dark and broody over there that asks them." she stated grumpily. Looking at Taelin a moment, she blinked before her eyes widened. "A Windian?!"

Looking to Cam, I noticed his eyes lighting up and knew the interrogation was just about to grow longer. Rolling my eyes, I eyed my board longingly, wondering if I'd be able to get away from the others for a brief surf.

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Ok, I got stuck on introducing the OC. I wanted to work on having Hunter end up with SOMEONE, and not Taelin, since I do agree that it would be very akward. I mean, he had to help her with her first period, and raised her from a baby, and it just seems like never-ending embarrassment for both of them.

Now that she's somewhat introduced, I have to think on what's going to happen next. Hmmm... I have ideas, I just need to pick through them.

Also, like I said before, no more leaving chapters sitting on my computer, because I don't want to risk losing them, so...

Hope you liked it.

I may not have quotes for the next chaper, a lot of the time, since I am posting them as soon as I finish them. We'll see on where I am when I am ready to post. Unfortunately, I don't have a quote for the next chapter, but it will deal at least partially, with the 'interrogation', from Angie's POV.

**pinklen98** - Hunter is so gorgeous and broody, but I began the fic with the intention of having him end upwith someone. I mean, I just thought it was so unfair that he didn't have someone as close, like Blake had with Tori... So I want him to have someone.

Now, the journey is going to be fun. LOL.

R+R please

Thank you.

Tenshi


	8. Chapter 8

**Pinklen98** - I totally agree. :)

**Mrs.Quincy25** - Yeah, that's why I also agreed to introduce another OC. That period thing was my one little problem with them being together. I'm glad you like how I introduced her. It just came to me as I was writing that chapter.

Thank you to all my reviewers. I'm glad you like my fic.

My computer is really in bad shape, but as long as it works, I'm still working on my fiction. I'm just making sure to save it to my email so that I can get to it whereever I am.

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(Ops, Angie's POV)

"Ok, you really didn't need to blindfold me." I stated in a groan as I tripped over another branch, or something. From what I could hear and smell, the group of six adults and one pre-teen girl were leading me through a forest.

There as a sigh from the man I recalled, calling himself Cameron, or Cam. "It's for everyone's safety." he stated calmly.

I raised an eyebrow and kept walking. "And tying me up?" I asked as I pulled at my bound hands, which were behind my back. _Why did I agree to this, again?_

"For _our_ safety." Hunter stated in a growl.

"Oh yeah, cause I'm just magically gonna pull out this super awesome magic trick and fry your butts." I stated sarcastically. "I mean, I only spent my entire life feeling like a freak because I thought I was the only one of my kind. I finally find others and you think I'm gonna...what? Use a teleport spell to beam away your clothes and take off laughing?"

I head the girl, Taelin, snickering at my words, and it seemed Tori, Dustin, Shane and Blake were close to laughter, as well.

"Then it really made sense to show up all Dragon Clan-ie, and tell me all your names." I added pointedly. Shaking my head, I rolled my eyes behind the blindfold. "Whatever. Here I am, trusting you, _complete strangers,_ and I don't get a thing in return."

"You got our names." Blake stated, and I could swear I heard a grin in his voice.

"Oh ha ha, very funny." I stated sourly.

"Is it just me, or does it seem like all Dragon Clan members are smart-alecks?" Shane asked, and I know I heard a smirk in his voice.

"Laugh it up." I muttered with a sigh.

I heard Tori sigh. "Listen, this is just...necessary, since we don't know you." she offered weakly.

"So...what? You're taking me to some hidden hide-out or something?"

I could feel the tension soar and felt Cam's grip on my arm tighten.

_Guess so._ I thought dryly. "Ok, never mind then." I muttered quietly, turning my face to the ground as we walked on.

Soon enough, I smelt water nearby and heard what sounded like a waterfall. Frowning a little, I heard the sound of squishing ahead of me, marking that my _escort_ was walking in mud, and shuddered a little when I felt my own feet sink down a little. Then, there was a flare of power and my feet seemed to leave solid ground for a moment, making me yelp in surprise and fear.

Stumbling forward, I felt two different set of arms catch me, and my feet were set on solid ground again.

"What in the world did you just do?!" I yelled angrily, pulling away from the arms that I recognized as Hunter's.

The arms reached forward as Hunter let out an irritated groan, and firmly grabbed me, dragging me through more forest, although there was a stronger scent of humans through it. Actually, it smelled like a lot of humans passed through here, but a while ago. The strongest smells were that of the Dragon Clan members and their friends, including the little girl, Taelin.

"Sorry, can't tell you that just yet." Shane stated firmly. "If ever." I heard him add under his breath.

There was a smacking sound and I felt Shane's pain, surprise and anger.

"What was that for?!"

"Are you forgetting _she's_ Dragon Clan, too?" Tori asked mock sweetly. "I heard you clear enough, and if you remember, she has enhanced hearing."

Grinning a little with my head hung low, I decided I already kind of like Tori. She wasn't like a lot of girls I'd seen in town, more tomboyish. She knew how to hold her own, apparently, and had the respect and friendship of these guys. And unlike a certain couple of people I could name, she actually wanted to give me a chance.

Soon, I felt my feet hitting something more solid and I frowned deeply, stopping cold when I smelled the scent of dark power and pain. I started walking after Hunter tugged on my arm and felt my feet crunch over what I determined to be chunks of stone, maybe debris, and I soon heard something sliding, feeling myself being carefully led down a flight of stairs.

Once that was done, I felt someone move behind me and stiffened up until I felt them removing the blindfold and untying me.

Blinking a moment and flexing my wrists, I looked around the dojo-ish looking room I was in, noting the dim light, paper walls, single table in the center of the room, small guinea pig habitat, hall leading off into seemingly nowhere and giant mega-computer across the room, which Cam walked over to and sat in the only chair.

"Have a seat." Hunter grumbled as he moved and sat on one side of the table. Taelin chased after him and smacked him on the arm before flopping down on the floor, glaring at him as he sat beside her. No words were said, but the glare seemed more of to tell him to behave, and I watched as he sighed heavily.

Blake moved next and sat on her other side, as if acting like a sentry, and the trio seemed to relax a little. It wasn't until Tori moved to sit at the edge of the table, next to Blake, that he relaxed completely.

Shane and Dustin moved to sit on Tori's other side and everyone turned to me, making me feel uncomfortable with their stares. "Thanks." I muttered warily, keeping my distance. "But you just tied me up, blindfolded me, lead me into god-knows-where and expect me to relax? Uh, no. Especially when everything about you and this place is all weird." I stated with a look, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Then let the interrogation begin." Shane stated with a grin, looking pointedly at Cam.

And begin it did. Cam started off with subtle questions like where I was from and what family I had, checking me out on the computer, to see if I was telling the truth. Then he went on to how long I knew I was Dragon Clan. Like I told him, I didn't know. It just hit me one day when I woke up to find I had dragon wings. It took me years to learn to control my enhanced senses, and only through trial and error.

Of course, Hunter asked how I learned to hide my wings.

"Simple." I stated with a sigh. "I spent about 6 hours rocking in a ball on my bathroom floor, saying 'This isn't real. This isn't real', over and over again, and willing my wings to go away when I opened my eyes again."

Then they went on to if I knew some guy named Lothor. Ok, that's got to be the oddest name in the history of names. I think I'd remember if I ever met someone named Lothor.

Hunter gave me glares all through the whole thing, and I glared right back. Yeah, sure, the guy was kind of cute, but man! What an attitude!

Then Blake asked how I knew Taelin was a Windian.

"Well, it's the sense of smell, really." I began. "Spending years learning how to control my senses, I learned how to tell several smells apart. I met a girl once that didn't smell like your typical human. I never really understood why, and she didn't stay long. It was like she was visiting or something."

"Get to the point." Hunter growled.

Raising my eyebrow at him, I narrowed my eyes. "Ok, short story it is. She knew I was Dragon Clan and revealed her wings to me, telling me she was Windian and she was scouting planets outside their galaxy. They just got into space travel, but didn't have too many ships. Then she left and went home."

"Dude, like...that was vague." Dustin stated in confusion.

"Blame it on sir glare's-a-lot over there." I stated, gesturing to Hunter. "Who demanded I 'get to the point'."

I hoped the interrogation was over, but no.. Now Cam wanted to know every little detail that I could recall about this Windian woman, and where I met her. Why did she go home, that stuff.

"Oh, I get it!" I finally cried as I snapped my fingers. I was on the verge of falling asleep, and as I watched many of these people jump, I knew they felt the same. "This is a real interrogation! Then you're all the good cops..." I stated, pointing to Blake, Dustin, and Tori. "And you're the pain-in-the-rear bad cops!" I finished, pointing to Hunter, Shane and Cam. Then I reconsidered. "Nah, you're more of a good cop." I said, gesturing to Cam.

"Nice to know..." Hunter muttered with a roll of his eyes.

Cam adjusted his glasses on his face and sighed. "Ok, now basically, can you tell us all what to expect with the Dragon Spirits in Hunter and Blake awakened?"

I grinned. Then I laughed. I knew everyone was staring at me in confusion, except for Blake, who looked a little insulted, and Hunter who glared...again. Shaking my head, I held up a hand as I got control of my laughter. "Sorry... It's just, you don't know _anything?_"

Hunter looked at the table and I could swear I saw his cheeks turning a light red. Taking pity on him, I sighed. "Well, I'm not really sure where to begin. I'm positive you've noticed your usual senses are enhanced..."

The blonde guy didn't look up but Blake nodded.

"Well, you'll learn to control that and it really isn't dangerous." I stated dismissively. "You'll also notice an uncanny ability to sense a person's emotions. Whether they're uncomfortable, angry, in some kind of emotional pain, pretty much anything."

Blake's eyes darted to Tori before he looked down at the table. If I didn't know any better, I'd have sworn he already figured that part out.

"You'll have an element that comes with the dragon spirit. Mine is light. I can heal really minor wounds and stuff. I can't do much though." I mutered, looking at the table and feeling my face heat up. "Uh... Oh!" Snapping my fingers, I looked back up at them. "You can take dragon form, whenever you learn how. And you'll have a weakness period."

"Oh god, please don't say that word." Hunter muttered as he rubbed his face, and I _knew_ I smelt embarrassment.

"What? Weakness?" I asked cluelessly.

Blake shook his head, his own face heating up, and mouthed the word 'period'.

Feeling my eyes widen, I bit my lip as my body began to shake with my withheld laughter. _I don't think I wanna know. _It took me a moment, but after focusing on the situation at hand, I managed to control myself. "Uh, I mean that there will come a time, for anywhere between a day or three, that you will turn into a baby dragon, without any control." I stated with a slight giggle.

"You go through this, too?" Shane asked akwardly.

I nodded. "Yeah. I usually hide out in the forest when it happens, but a word to the wise..." I turned to Hunter and Blake. "Dragons are weak against the cold, no matter what their element. In human form, it's not so bad, but in dragon form it's really bad."

They exchanged an uncertain look before warily nodding, and that _finally_ ended the interrogation. Well, almost...

"One more question." Cam called as everyone began to stand. There was a chorus of groans and he glared at the others before turning to me. "Where were you planning to stay?"

I blinked and felt my eyes close as I leaned my head back. _Oh, man! _

(Next Day)

Ok, I'm a little embarrassed. Yesterday I was in such a hurry to find the other Dragon Clan members that I sensed, that I didn't bother to think about what I was doing. That led to me coming here with little to no money on me, and not having a place to stay.

So here I was, relying on the generosity of a bunch of strangers.

What's more, I learned a little more about their situation and now kind of understood why they were so wary. By no means was I fully informed, but I did happen to run into a little, robe-wearing, _talking_ guinea pig that turned out to be Cam's father, Sensei Kanoi Watanabi. Apparently, this Lothor guy hit him with a blast of dark energy and his form was stuck like that.

It was...weird, to meet a talking rodent, but also kind of cute.

Anyway, he told Cam to explain what this place was, at the very least, since I'd be staying here.

"Ninja Ops?" Ok, so out of all possible explanations, I didn't expect to hear that the six of them were Ninjas. Let alone that this was an underground, secret base set under the ruins of their school.

There was more they were obviously hiding, but I also got the sense that they didn't trust me enough just yet to tell me everything. I was a little hurt. I mean, I spent all that time answering their questions as honestly as I could, and being patient with them, and they _still_ didn't trust me?

"Listen, you can't tell anyone about this place." Cam said when I walked into the room.

It was the next day and I noticed that Shane and Dustin were sparring a little in a corner of the room, and Cam was once again at the computer. I could smell that the others had been here, but they weren't now, and it made me a little curious as to where they were.

Still, I nodded to his words and sat at the table quietly. Being submissive and quiet like this just wasn't my style, but I did understand that I was here solely under their discretion and if I made them mad, they could easily kick me out of here.

"Do you fight at all? Know any martial arts?" Cam asked me, turning to face me.

I shook my head. "Uh, no. Fighting was never my thing."

"Could've fooled me." Shane stated as he blocked a punch from Dustin.

Glaring at him, I raised an eyebrow. "Ok, let me rephrase that. Fighting _physically_ was never my thing."

Dustin grinned and pushed Shane back before leveling a light kick at his head, that was easily blocked.

"Alright. I was going to suggest you spar, but that doesn't seem like..." He trailed off a moment before grinning. "On second thought..."

"Oh, I _so_ don't like that look on your face." I stated, getting up quickly and backing off. I got the sense I was really going to regret even waking up today.

He ignored me and turned to the computer, typing something in. "Hunter. Blake. Listen, I need you to come to Ops when you can." he called lightly.

A second later and Hunter's face was shown, looking into a camera of some sort. "Do I dare ask why?" he asked with a warning look.

I saw him glance behind Cam, to me, and I looked away, still feeling the aura he was giving off, that he didn't trust me. I don't know what I said or did, but the others seemed to be slowly opening up to me. It was just him.

Hey, even Shane was opening up, despite his comments. I could tell that, that was just the way his attitude was.

"No. Just get here. Cam out." he stated with a sigh, turning of the computer and turning to me. "You might not fight, but you're going to have to learn how."

"No, I don't." I stated firmly. "I'm the element of light, or did you forget? If I recall correctly, anything with that element in games and shows are really weak fighters, right?" Yeah, yeah, so I was grasping at straws, but still... I knew I had a point.

"This isn't a game or show." he stated back evenly. "And I don't plan to have you become a master at martial arts, just learn enough to keep yourself alive if you're ever attacked."

"Oh I already know how to do that." I said simply with a shrug. "Turn into a dragon and get my scaled hide outta there."

Now I could hear Dustin snickering, and even Shane let out a cough to cover a quick burst of laughter. I'm not sure if it was because of our banter, or what, but I know it got me grinning, even as Cam raised an eyebrow. He was almost glaring at me but I could see this tiny spark of amusement in his eyes, and I think he was actually enjoying the conversation.

Then there was stomping down the stairs and I turned to find Hunter and Blake come into the room, with Taelin.

"Well that's too bad." Cam stated mock regretfully. "Because for today, Hunter and Blake will be teaching you martial arts."

I spun to face him and felt my eyes narrow. "Excuse me...?"

He smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. "You're excused, now you should get going."

"Whoa, wait a minute." Hunter stated calmly, although I saw a hint of crimson in his eyes when I turned in his direction. "You called _us_ here to teach her to spar? Dustin and Shane were already here!"

"But Dustin and Shane aren't Dragon Clan, are they?" Blake asked with a knowing look. "Hey, it's cool with me." he stated with a shrug, looking at me. "Come on, I'll take you to a good location for sparring."

I blinked absently for a moment before reluctantly nodding and following him, making sure to leave a wide berth around the obviously angry blonde guy.

"Hunter doesn't mean to be angry all the time."

Looking at Taelin, I stopped for a moment, taking in that she aged a couple of years since I saw her yesterday. "Wha...?"

"It's the collar." Blake stated from in front of me. "It'll age her to about 18 or 19 and then we gotta take it off to allow her to age normally. It's kinda hard to explain." he stated with a shrug as he scratched the side of his head.

Taking a good look at the said collar, I noticed it seemed like a simple metal band with a latch in the back. Put simply, it didn't look like anything from around here. And by here, I mean earth. "Windian technology?" I asked curiously.

He nodded before turning and leading the way through the woods.

"You said...Hunter doesn't mean to be angry..." I stated, turning to face Taelin as we walked. "Was it something I said or did?"

She shook her head, her shoulder length hair swishing lightly. "No, it's not you at all. Hunter doesn't trust people easily."

"Yeah, I kinda noticed." I stated dryly.

"It's personal." Blake stated from ahead of us, leaning against a tree by a large clearing. "I know exactly why, but it's not my place to say. It's up to him to open up. Just give him time."

Looking to the ground, I sighed. "I honestly don't know how much more of his attitude I'm gonna be able to take." I stated bluntly. I'd only arrived yesterday, and already I had the feeling that he hated me, and if there was one thing I couldn't handle, it was being hated. Shaking my head, I sighed again and started out into the center of the clearing. "Well, whatever. Let's get this suicide mission under way."

All of a sudden, a crimson blur raced at me, and I jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding an attack by Hunter, who's wings were spread.

"Lesson number one..." He growled lowly, smeeling of anger. "Don't let your guard down."

"My guard was never up to begin with!" I cried, jumping to my feet and glaring at him as I dusted off my jean shorts. "I wasn't expecting to be attacked outta nowhere!"

He rolled his eyes as he floated in place and raised his hands. "Should I go a lot slower?" he asked mockingly. He darted forward again and again I jumped to the side, catching my arm on a broken branch.

Hissing in pain, I rolled to my feet and glared at him, feeling my whole body ringing with painful tension. _This is supposed to be a training session, isn't it? Why's he attacking me all out?!_

"Hunter Stop it!" Taelin cried angrily.

Blake raced forward and glared at him. They were silent but I knew that they were talking telepathically. Especially when Hunter's head lowered and I smelled shame. _What did I do? They say it's not me, but if it's not me, then why's he trying to hurt me in any way he can?!_ I thought as I blinked back tears. Now I didn't normally cry, but I was so confused, and hurt by his actions.

"What _do_ you know about fighting?" came Blake's tense but kind voice.

Taking a deep breath, I stood up, glancing at the cut on my arm. "Everything I know about fighting, you could fit on the head of a pin." I stated bitterly. "Like I told Cam, fighting's not my thing."

"It's gonna have to be." Hunter stated lowly, his tone masked. "Unless you want Lothor to get his hands on you, and trust me, the end result of that's not pretty."

Even with his tone masked, I could hear the underlying tones of pain in his words and frowned thoughtfully. _Lothor... A lot of all this has to do with that guy._

"Then... How about if we teach you beginner things? Simple moves and blocks and stuff?" Blake asked with a frown.

I wanted to say 'no'. I wanted to turn and walk away, maybe turn into a dragon and just fly back home or something. Instead, I shrugged in resignation, letting my body hunch with defeat. I knew they weren't gonna give up about teaching me to fight, whether I liked it or not, and in all honesty, going home didn't seem like an option.

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Well this fic's changed completely from what I was planning. I need to include more excitement.

A note to **JuseaPeterson**. While writing this, I'm trying to incorporate things into it that we've talked about. Their homes lives, and their personalities. That's part of the reason I don't want Hunter practically swooning over Angie so soon.

Another part is I'm trying to keep her from being really badly Mary-Sue-ish. Aka, why she is not a fighter, can't use her powers well, doesn't have every Ranger falling all over themselves to please her...

My main thought at the moment is to focus on Hunter's thoughts and feelings about the new girl and how he acts around her, slowly introducing why. I hope that made some sort of sense. LOL.

Hope you liked it.

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_**You know me, bro... I don't open up to people so good.**_

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	9. Chapter 9

(Blake's POV)

I have no idea what's gotten into Hunter. I know he wasn't there to hear us talking, and he was too far away to hear us with the dragon senses. I only sensed him last minute, rushing at us at an incredible speed.

Remind me to get him to teach me to fly, later.

Point is, he scared Taelin with how he just appeared like that, and I don't think he noticed when Angie hurt herself on a broken branch.

It took both me and Taelin to stop him, and when I began to yell at him, mentally of course, he seemed to realize what he was doing.

"Bro, what's gotten into you?" I asked quietly as we walked back to ops, that evening. We'd managed to teach Angie some basics, but other than her obvious like of verbal battles, she didn't seem like a fighter, like she said. I knew he heard me, but also knew he wouldn't answer.

Poor girl was limping ahead of us, holding her arm which had taken a couple of hours to stop bleeding fully. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't just a tiny scratch, either.

"Why don't you heal yourself?" I asked louder, directing my question to Angie. I saw Hunter turn in her direction, from beside me, and wince a little with a questioning look. _Don't tell me it took you until now to notice?_ I thought incredulously.

His eyes narrowed at me before he looked away and I could sense his guilt.

"I don't heal myself." Came her quiet response. "Plus it takes a lot of energy to heal even the smallest wounds."

Nodding sympathetically, I felt Hunter grab my arm and fell back to walk with him, leaving Taelin to walk closer to Angie.

I raised an eyebrow at this. Hunter obviously didn't trust her, but he was allowing Taelin that close to her, alone?

_**It's not that I don't trust her...**_ Hunter stated telepathically. _**You know me, bro... I don't open up to people so good.**_

_Yeah, I know._ I thought with a nod. _But you opened up to the others._

He rolled his eyes and made a face. _**The others didn't just show up in Blue Bay one day, a Dragon Clan member, outta the blue, Blake. **_

_And what's she done to prove she's a threat? You know we can both tell if someone's lying or has alterior motives._

_**Yeah... I know. It's just...**_ Hunter shrugged with narrowed eyes, watching Angie limp down the stairs, to Ops. _**Oh boy. I'm so gonna get it now...**_He thought with another wince and a shake of his head. _**It's just not easy to let her in.**_

"Yeah, well, things won't change unless you try." I stated with a raised eyebrow and shrug.

Hunter looked at me and I could almost see fear in his eyes. I knew I could sense his hesitation and sighed, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be ok, bro." I stated softly, moving past him to go down the stairs.

(The Next Day, Hunter and Blake's Apartment, Hunter's POV)

Well, I guess today's what you'd call a messed up day. I mean, on one hand, Taelin finally turned 18 and the collar came off. That, and that she's moving into Ops with Cam, Sensei and Angie. Well, she couldn't stay with us anymore. Only two rooms, remember? She'd been staying on a cot in my room, but it was getting more and more akward with every day.

Then, there's Angie.

I don't really know how I feel about her. I mean, she seems like a nice person, but it's just really hard to let her in. It's like I can't help but snap at her, even though I know she didn't do anything to deserve it. I also know it's really hurting her.

After my talk, or rather, yelling match with Cam, yesterday, I left Ops in a huff. I didn't mean to snap and go after her like that, but all I could think was that he was making us teach her how to fight.

_I didn't even notice that I hurt her until well after the fight. We trained all day and I didn't notice the smell of blood, or sense of pain in the air._

And I never once apologized. I knew I should. It was the right and honourable thing to do, but I was almost afraid to go near her. Like I'd snap and hurt her again.

"You're afraid."

Spinning to the side, I watched as Taelin walked into the room. I had to blink a moment to actually believe that the little baby we'd found had turned into a such a beautiful young woman. Her once light voice was still light, but matured and more womanly than it was before, and it held such wisdom.

Adjusting her t-shirt and jeans, she sat beside her, brushing her long black hair out of her face. "Did you hear me, Hunter?"

I blinked, taking in her words, and shrugged. "Yeah, I heard you, but I don't know what I've got to be afraid of." I stated, feelin my wings mantle a little defensively.

She smiled. "Blake. I think, you're afraid of something happening to Blake, or your relationship with him." Tilting her head a little, she looked at the coffee table. "You're like the big brothers I never had." she said softly. "I don't like seeing either of you in pain."

I felt my heart clench at her words, knowing that somehow she was right about the Blake thing, but... "It was never a fear before." I stated softly.

"Yeah, it was. You just never noticed it."

Glancing out of the corner of my eye, I looked at a picture of Blake and me, down by the track. _Maybe..._ "But why would that change? And what is it I'm afraid of?"

"That's what you need to figure out." she said as she closed her eyes and leaned against my chest. Wrapping an arm around her waist, I let her relax against me.

_What I need to figure out..._ I was glad we blocked our link today. It gave me a chance to think without Blake picking up on it. _I'm afraid..._ Yeah, thinking about it, I guess I was.

Surprise, surprise. Big bad Hunter was afraid.

Rolling my eyes, I frowned. _Afraid of something happening to Blake... Or maybe... Afraid that something would happen to change the life I knew? _I was used to waking up, Blake and Taelin being the most important things to me, with Blake there first, and going to sleep each day knowing they'd be there when I woke up the next day.

It was...complicated.

_I think I started noticing it more when Angie arrived. Another Dragon Clan. _Was I afraid she'd become important to me, as well? The only other one of our kind, that we knew of. But what could she change? I knew she was harmless to us...

_Our relationship... _Blake was literally the most important thing in my life. My baby brother and only remaining family. In a lot of ways, he gave me strength and stability. Was I afraid of that changing?

(At the Beach, Tori's POV)

"Ok, Blake? You're not concentrating." I said with a raised eyebrow as Blake took another header off the surf board.

Standing up slowly, with a frown, he shivered a bit and looked at me with heavy eyes. Walking to the board, he sat on it and gestured for me to sit across from him.

So I did. I moved, straddled my board facing him, and waited quietly for him to start talking.

"It's Hunter." he stated bluntly.

I kind of figured that already. Whenever something bothered Blake, it usually dealt with the older, more broody Bradley. Still, I remained quiet, letting him know I was listening.

"He's been acting weird ever since Angie arrived, and I'm not sure what to make of it. He acts so angry around her, and I know he kinda is, but he's also scared of something." he stated with a frown as he stared into the water.

"I noticed that she came back from training pretty beat up." I stated quietly, careful to keep any possible trace of accusation out of my voice. Not that I felt anyone was to blame, but I knew how that sentence could come out if I wasn't careful.

Actually, I found that I was being careful around Blake and Hunter a lot. The whole new, enhanced senses got me, and I guess I was afraid of hurting them or something.

"Yeah, that was Hunter. He came racing to the clearing and attacked her all out." Blake stated with a frown, running hs hand through the water. "It's me, I think."

I may not have been Dragon Clan, but I could hear the self-accusation and guilt in his voice and didn't like it. Reaching out, I took his hands and held them tightly. "What makes you say that? You know Hunter loves you."

He nodded, clutching my hands tightly. "That's just it. I think he's afraid of something happening to change our lives. I don't know what it is, but when he gets afraid, he pushes people away."

"Kinda like a big loop." I mutered quietly, absently rubbing the back of Blake's hand with my thumb. "Hunter's afraid to let people in, but doesn't wanna be alone, either. So he gets defensive and ends up pushing them away and making his fear come true."

There was silence for a moment and I looked up to find Blake staring at me thoughtfully. Feeling my face heat up, I pulled my hands back.

Or...tried to.

Blake held on to my hands tightly and seemed to stare into my very soul. "You know, it's freaky how well you know us." he stated a moment later, blinking and looking away with a small smile. "And you're right. I mean, after our parents' death, he became afraid to let people in, terrified of losing them, too."

I nodded as I held his hands lightly, looking at them. "You can really see it. I mean, I saw it with us, even." I said softly.

"You sure you're not Dragon Clan?"

I blinked in surprise and looked up to see Blake looking at me with clear amusement in his eyes. Feeling my face heat up, I laughed a little and looked back at my board. Finally, Blake let my hands go, only to change his hold to my chin as he gently raised my face.

I was amazed my face didn't explode, I was sure I was blushing madly by now.

When our eyes met, I could see his shining with such warmth, and then they closed as he leaned in, and I felt his lips brush against mine. His lips were so soft and warm, and I felt myself metling against him, kissing him back.

After a few moments, we brok apart for air and looked at each other silently. I was sure our faces must've been a nice deep red, and bit my lip as I looked at my board again, feeling very shy around him.

Chuckling a little, Blake shook his head. "It's amazing but you always seem to know what to say to cheer me up." he stated lightly.

Then he hopped off the board and overturned it, dumping me into the cold waters.

"BLAKE!!" Jumping to my feet in shock at the cold water, I leveled a mock glare at him and stalked forward silently. "You are _so_ gonna pay for that!" I warned lowly as I jumped forward, latching my arms around his neck and using my body weight to knock us both over.

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Yay! Blake and Tori romance!

Again, I wanted to focus on how I feel Hunter would think and react to having new people come into his life. I mean, he's got Blake, whom he loves and is so loyal to. After losing two sets of parents ( I think ), it only seems natural that he'd be wary of letting people in, because he'd be afraid of losing them, too.

And another thought I was following... Blake is number 1 in his heart, even with Taelin there. That's not gonna change. Now, imagine if a girl comes in, and he finds himself liking her (but may not realize it, or something), his feelings might change, and he'll be afraid that she'll replace Blake. he'll feel guilty if _anything_ changes, and like he's betraying his baby bro.

Does that make sense?

Which is mainly why I am making it go slower. I'm trying to point these things out. I just don't know if it's working. LOL.

Hope you like it.

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"I'm sorry..."

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	10. Chapter 10

I'm really glad you're all liking the story so far. I noticed the lack of excitement in the battle area and stuff on the dragon aspect, so I'm going to focus more on that next. Thank you all for your reviews. It means a lot to me and helps me to continue this fic. :)

**Mrs.Quincy25** - Yeah, the whole period thing is why I actually changed my mind about pairing Hunter with Taelin. I mean, that would embarrass them both to no end and make them more akward around each other in the romantic sense, but I am thinking of pairing Taelin with someone. I'm glad you liked how I introduced the OC. I'm trying to point out that the Hunter I see wouldn't trust a new comer right out of the blue, necessarily.

I always loved sarcastic senses of humor. LOL. I think I lightened up a bit on that though, which I need to fix... LOL. I'm a Tori/Blake lover myself, so I had to include them in the couple sense. Hmmm...Taelin has her wise moments, but she's also still in the same age group as the others, so she'll probably act like it at times.

**star-dreamer09** - I had to do that chapter. I think it was the main reason I decided to write and post this. I mean, I wanted to try the whole Dragon and Windian thing in a fic, but that period chapter was a must, no matter what! LOL. I know, it's hilarious. My best friend's boyfriend just gets into joking about it, with us.

I'm glad you liked it. LOL. I couldn't help but picture it and laugh while writing it.

**GinaStar** - This...is why I didn't pair Hunter with Taelin. LOL.

Thank you:) I wasn't sure how the fic was coming across at that point. I noticed that I ended up leaving the humor and action behind to do more emotional stuff. So...back to the humor and action!

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(Ops, Normal POV)

Angie sat at the table, alone. Everyone else had gone out but she didn't feel up to it. In fact, she didn't know how she felt.

On one hand, she got to meet two Dragon Clan members, making her feel slightly better, knowing she wasn't alone. On the other, the only one of the two who'd been the slightest bit hospitable, was Blake.

_This didn't exactly go as I imagined._ she thought. Well, she didn't know _how_ she imagined it to go, but to have one Dragon Clan treat her like a constant threat or stranger, and the other to be nice...

And to end up finding out that Ninjas actually existed. She thought they only existed in fairytales or something, but they really existed in real life.

Part of her was happy to meet new people, intrigued by Cam's wit and Shane's competitiveness, interested to see the bond forming between Blake and Tori, amused at Hunter and Cam's constant banter, amused at Dustin's dense moments... It was nice to have people she could be sarcastic or smart-aleck with and they didn't take her too seriously, or open up to who'd understand her.

Then, part of her constantly wondered why Hunter seemed so angry at her. If she remained at a distance, in a local place, she could see him open up around the others and laugh. Sure, she still saw and felt the walls around his heart, but he wasn't openly hostile.

"Hey."

Jumping a little with a gasp, Angie turned to find Hunter standing in the doorway, his eyes resting on the floor. Biting her lip, she turned and looked at the table, remaining quiet, simply because she just didn't feel like arguing with him today.

"Listen, I..."

She looked at him as he trailed off and could see how uncomfortable he was, but he also seemed to be making an effort to be nice.

"I'm sorry..." he blurted. Frowning deeply, he looked up through his blonde bangs at her, crossing his arms over his chest as he shifted to lean against the wall. "You know, about yesterday, attacking you like that."

Looking back at the table, she felt her arm ache in memory and it her lip before nodding. "It's ok." she said softly.

With a heavy sigh, Hunter stalked over to the table and dropped down ungracefully at the edge of it, leaning his arms on it and looking at the wooden surface like it was the most interesting thing in the world. "It's hard for me to open up to people." he stated gruffly. "It wasn't so bad with the others because I knew all their back stories and stuff, but you just came outta nowhere."

She nodded again, remaining quiet and sensing that he needed to be the one talking just then.

"I know you weren't lying. I knew all along that you were being honest. It wasn't that I didn't trust you, it's just that I'm not good with making friends with new people." he continued, still refusing to look at her.

By now she could smell a hint of salt coming from him and knew he was close to tears. Pain practically radiated from him and she knew he was recalling painful memories. Tentatively, Angie reached out to touch his hand, but he quickly pulled back, moving away from her a little.

"I dunno if anything's gonna change." he stated after a moment, sounding a little more sturdy. "I just..." Shaking his head, he got up. "I just wanted to say sorry." he said quickly before turning and walking out of the room.

A couple minutes later and she felt a small weight on her shoulder. Turning her head, she looked at Sensei.

"You must forgive Hunter. He has suffered greatly, as has Blake, but it seems to affect him more." he stated sadly.

Angie frowned and looked at the doorway. "But, I don't understand what happened."

"He is adopted, as is Blake. They have both lost two sets of parents, the most recent, Lothor used against them. He managed to manipulate them into believing that I killed their parents, but in finding out the truth..." He sighed and closed his eyes. "They saw the spirits of their parents, telling them it was Lothor who killed them."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she turned back to the door. _Lothor... Just like I thought, everything deals with him._

"Then, they wanted revenge against him, going to his ship alone and ending up brainwashed. Only this time, things went badly. Somehow, Hunter ended up with a more...complicated brainwashing, making him believe Blake betrayed him." He frowned and looked at the table. "They are past that, but I believe it may still haunt Hunter."

Nodding a little, Angie remained quiet as Sensei leapt off her shoulder and sat in his habitat, seemingly going into a meditative trance. Getting up quietly, she bowed, like she'd seen the others do, before heading out of there and walking through the forest towards the road to Blue Bay Harbor.

_So everything's this Lothor's fault. He's the reason Hunter's so wary around people and always seems to be pushing people away. He's the reason for everything._ she thought angrily. Frowning, she bit her lip as she made it to the highway, deciding to walking towards town. If she walked the whole way, it'd take her hours, but if nothing else, she needed the time to think.

_I want him to pay... Go away and stop hurting people, but...what can I do? I'm not a fighter, even with the self-defense training I go through._

(Hunter's POV)

"I dunno what do to." I sighed, sitting under a tree at the park. "It just...hurts to much to tell her what happened."

"Bro, you gotta tell her or how's she supposed to know?" Blake asked with a look, sitting beside me.

After talking to Angie, I came here, to the park, to relax. It didn't take Blake long to find me and join me. Whether he lowered his mental blocks and read my mind, or just somehow knew I needed to talk, I don't know.

But I did know where he came from.

"So, you and Tori finally got over your shyness?" I asked with a grin. He smelled strongly of salt, telling me he came from the ocean, and a hint jasmine, a smell I recognized coming from Tori.

Shooting me another look, Blake raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, and no changing the subject."

With a sigh, I closed my eyes and turned my face to the sky, feeling relaxed under the sun's rays. "I apologized to her. Spoke to her. I wanted to tell her, but I got all confused and it just...hurt to remember it." Opening my eyes again, I blinked back the tears as I looked at a single bird flying by. "I didn't even get to say goodbye." I muttered under my breath, talking about the last time I saw mom and dad.

"Neither did I, bro." Blake responded, just as quietly, reminding me of our enhanced senses. "Look, I know it hurts. How 'bout if I talk to her?"

I opened my mouth to reply when the beeping of our morphers cut in and I groaned, looking down at my wrist. "I dunno." I stated, lifting my wrist to my mouth. "Go for Hunter."

"It's Cam. Listen, Angie's in trouble, just outside town. I've already called the others. Get there a.s.a.p!" Cam ordered sternly. "Cam out."

_Just outside town?_ Frowning, I turned to Blake and nodded as we stood. Checking around, we made sure it was safe before morphing.

"Thunder Storm! Ranger Form! HA!"

Once morphed, we ninja streaked off to where I could sense pain from, knowing it was her.

It didn't take us long. She was well outside town, along the main highway back. She was also surrounded by kelzacks. Biting my lip as I rushed forward, I kicked two kelzacks off her, using my fire powers combined with my thunder powers to send a large group flying back. _What was she doing, _walking_ to town?!_

Blake sent me a look, and even behind his helmet, I could read it.

_Behave._

Shaking my head, I grabbed Angie's arm and pulled her up, noting a nasty bruise forming on her exposed side. "Are you ok?" I asked bluntly.

She looked a little embarrassed, or...was it shame...? But nodded slowly, clutching her side as I released her arm. "Sorry." she muttered.

_What for?_ Sensing a kelzack coming up behind me, I kicked out without even looking and turned my head as it flew back into a bunch of others. "Don't be. Just watch yourself." I instructed, turning and going back to the fight.

Luckily, the other Rangers showed up within seconds and the kelzacks were taken care of easily.

Turning back to Angie, I noticed her head was hung low, and how her long brown hair was messed up. I guess she must've sensed me looking at her because she slowly looked up, her dark blue eyes gazed at me, almost shyly, confusion flashing in her eyes.

_She's is kinda..._ Shaking my head, I looked away, willing the thought to go away before it could even finish in my head.

(Next Day, Blake's POV)

"Ok, bro, stop!" I hissed, feeling a massive headache making my head pound.

Hunter had been pacing the living room for what felt like hours, lost in thought. I tentatively opened my mind to him and found him questioning how he felt about Angie and where the sudden thoughts about her being 'cute' came from. But even in my amusement, I could only take him pacing for so long.

"Hunter!" I yelled, when he continued to pace, seemingly oblivious to me. "Stop!"

Jumping a little in surprise at my yell, Hunter looked at me in confusion and a hint of hurt as he stopped pacing. "Blake?"

I rubbed my temples and went into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of aspirin and a bottle of water from the fridge. Taking two of the little pills, I sighed and closed my eyes, trying to will them to hurry up and work.

"Blake, what's wrong?" Hunter demanded, walking into the kitchen.

I winced at his voice, even though it wasn't that loud and closed the bottle of water. Placing it back in the fridge, I glanced at the time, wondering how anyone could be as awake as he was at 6 in the morning. "Just a headache." I stated quietly.

"You've never snapped because of a headache before." my brother stated with a frown. Walking over, he placed a hand on my forehead and drew back quickly. "Bro, you're burning up."

Raising my eyes from the floor, I watched as Hunter took a step back and his eyes grew wide. I was about to question what was wrong when everything began to spin. "Bro..." I croaked as I felt my legs giving out.

As everything turned black, I had this weird feeling of power surging and like my whole body was changing. Then I landed on a warm, soft surface and welcomed the sleep.

(At Ops, Angie's POV)

"No way!" I cried as my eyes widened. "Are you serious?!"

Tori nodded silently, with a huge grin, from the edge of my bed in my room at Ops, and Taelin, who sat beside me, giggled nervously. "Yep. Blake took off and left it up to Hunter to explain." the Water Ninja stated with a grin.

"Man, I don't know whether to laugh at Hunter or feel mortified for Taelin." I stated with a laugh. "Well, ok, it is impressive that he managed to handle it. He _did_ handle it, right?"

Tori nodded with a grin. "Yep. Told her all about the fact that it was a period and she wasn't in danger. He did pretty well."

Wow, imagine this. These Ninjas I was staying with, actually turned out to be the Rangers. Well, that actually explained a lot of things I didn't notice before. Like their elements and why they were always running off and stuff.

And now here I am, talking to Tori and Taelin about how Hunter and Blake raised Tae from a baby, having to deal with food fights, diaper changing, and Taelin's first period.

"At least until I finally showed up with some personal items for her, and he snapped at me for being so long." Tori stated with a giggle.

Taelin nodded, her own face in a bright grin. "Yeah, I remember hearing you asking him if he wanted to teach me how to use them and heard his feet running down the hall."

I laughed as I imagined his face. "Oh god, that's priceless!" I choked out between my giggles.

Finally having enough of this topic, Taelin turned to Tori. "And you've finally gotten over your shyness with Blake, I take it?"

The Water Ninja's face turned a deep cherry red and she looked down bashfully before nodding. "Yeah. It kinda took me by surprise. We were having a serious talk at the beach and then he just..." She bit her lip and shrugged. "Kissed me."

"And...?" I stated, leaning forward with what I knew was exaggerated excitement. "How was it??"

Her jaw dropped and she smacked my arm lightly. "Angie! I'm not telling you!" she cried as she burst into laughter.

I gave a mock pout before letting my head fall dramatically. "You're so mean!"

We all busted up laughing. "At least she got her man." Taelin stated with a sigh, a dreamy look coming over her face.

Grinning evilly, I exchanged a look with Tori. "Ok, who is it?" I demanded.

Tori nodded. "Spill!"

She turned a deep red and ducked her head in embarrassment. "...Well, I don't wanna tell you."

"Hey!" Tori cried with a swat to her lower leg. "That's not fair! Come on, please?!"

Biting her lip in a habit I think she picked up from Tori, Taelin looked to the door. "Ok, Dustin." she said reluctantly, keeping her voice down.

Tori's jaw dropped again and she began to giggle. Then she turned to me. "And I don't even need to ask with you."

I blinked blankly, frowning a little as I looked at her. "What do you mean?" I asked cluelessly. Then I picked up on what she meant and shook my head violently. "Oh, no. Don't even think about it!" I warned lowly. "Not a topic of discussion!"

"Guys!"

Blinking again, my head turned slowly to the door as Hunter's voice echoed down the hallway.

"Saved by Hunter, again." Tori stated with a grin.

"Tori! Taelin!" he called, his voice bordering on panicked. "Angie!"

Frowning a little, I dug into my ear with my pinky. "Is it me or did he just call _my_ name?" I asked in disblief. "It's gotta be me."

"I wonder what's wrong?" Taelin muttered in confusion and Tori jumped up and bolted out of the room.

Shrugging a little, Tae and I followed her, entering the main room to find everyone surrounding Hunter.

_Wait a minute._ I thought in confusion. Looking over the group, I began to count heads. _One, two, three, four, five... Taelin makes six..._ One was missing. Taking a few steps forward, Hunter came into clear view, holding a little sapphire dragon in his arms, which was clearly asleep. "Ah, I see." I stated with a nod.

"See?!" Hunter demanded in panic. "See what?! What's going on?!?"

"Blake's in his weakness period." I stated, biting back a grin at Hunter's visible wince. "He'll be in dragon form for a few days. And while in that form, he'll be... Oh, this is fun to explain." Closing my eyes, I tried to think on how best to explain it. "He'll be controlled by the dragon's senses. Be able to sense if someone is bad or good or wants to hurt him. He'll be able to recognize those closest to him."

That last part was stated with a pointed look at Hunter and Tori.

"He'll be able to understand, to a point, what's going on and being said. He won't be able to talk." I continued.

The little sapphire dragon stirred a little in Hunter's arms, curling up into a tiny ball, wrapping his tail around his body and burying his snout in it. Letting out a loud breath, everyone turned to him when it came out as a huff, and one chocolate eye opened briefly, looking at us all, before closing again. Then, one little fore-claw raised in a brief wave before being hidden by the long, sleek body again.

I blinked a moment, fighting back the urge to coo at how cute that was. I figured I'd wait until it was Hunter's turn and do it to him, instead. "And he'll probably like to cuddle, since heat relaxes him. Think of lizards and stuff. They love heat, are drawn to it, and relax under it. It's the same way for him." I finished with a grin as Hunter's eyes softened and he shifted his hold a little to make Blake more comfortable.

A small set of sapphire wings with black webbing fluttered a little as he settled, and I think he dozed back off again.

"So, this is normal for Dragon Clan?" Hunter asked warily.

I nodded. "Yeah. Everyone goes through it."

Nodding a little, Hunter turned and walked over to the table, sitting down carefully, so as to not jostle his little brother. Turning to look at Tori, I could see her eyes sparkling and knew she thought he, Blake, was adorable.

Grinning a little, I waved to the others and turned, heading back to my room.

Hey, it's only about 7 in the morning! I'm still tired!

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You know, I didn't even realize, but it's 7 pm here when I wrote that. LOL. Anyway, I had to look over the part with the fore-claw twice, to make sure I was reading it right. I mean, I got the image of Blake lifting a fore-claw and giving everyone the finger... That's not right. LOL! Funny, but not right.

For a couple of weeks now, I keep imagining different story ideas with Hunter as a Dragon Clan, and can't help but picture those little scenes where he'd clutch at a shirt with a claw, or huff as he relaxs, or curling up into a tiny ball, burying his nose under his tail. It just makes me want to coo about how adorable it is.

And for Hunter/Dustin fans, I've even had this idea floating around about them together. I don't think I'd write it, since I've never written slash, but I can think of such cute moments for the fic.

Hope you like it.

R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	11. Chapter 11

**JuseaPeterson** - Well I hope you had a good Thanksgiving. :) It's hard for me to remember that our Thanksgivings aren't at the same time. LOL. Yeah, I keep repeating things in my head when dealing with Angie, to keep her from being massively Mary-Sue. I fugured having her Dragon Clan would already put her in that listing, so I wanted to lessen it by making her a bad fighter/weak with powers and such.

Yeah, I couldn't help but think over our discussions about the minds of the characters and ended up with how the story's gone so far, and all the issues with their minds and stuff. Now I have to get Hunter to warm up to Angie...

I FINALLY got to including some dragon stuff in it, and there will be more. I hope you like the parts with Blake being in dragon form and stuff. :)

**Holding Out For A Hero** - Thank you. :) I'm glad you like it so far.

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(Next Day, Tori's POV)

Ok, now I'm not the type to coo or swoon over things, but I came pretty close when Hunter walked into Ops with Blake in dragon form. I mean, he was so beautiful, and the thing about curling up and waving with a tiny claw...

"Hunter, I would like you to help Angie with her martial arts." Sensei stated as he walked along the table.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I blinked a moment, realizing I'd be staring at the said sapphire dragon and felt my face heat up as I turned to Sensei, who was telling us our duties for the day.

Hunter frowned deeply. "But Sensei, what about...?" Looking down, he gestured to the still sleeping dragon in his arms.

"Yes, I am fully aware that Blake should not leave Ops at this state." Turning to the others, he seemed to think about it. "Shane will spar with Dustin. Cam will teach Taelin more about meditation and Tori will look after Blake." he finally decided after a moment.

_Huh?_ I thought blankly, blinking in confusion as everyone began to get up. _Did I miss something?_ For one thing, not only did I just get out of training, but got chosen to watch over Blake

Hunter shot one reclutant look at his brother before nodding and getting up as well, leaning over to carefully hold him out to me.

Still in a daze, I gently reached out, marvelling at the warth and sleekness of his scales as my hands slid over his sides to rest under the backs of his wings. Lifting him, I blushed a bit at the squeak he gave as he squirmed in my hold, and quickly brought him close to me, holding him against my chest as he re-settled, burying his nose in my neck and clutching my top with his claws.

He let out another deep breath and his wings fluttered a bit before he shifted and curled in to me.

Of course, I'm guessing he must've thought something that Hunter caught, because the said blonde smirked as he turned and walked out of Ops.

"Yay, lucky me." Angie groaned sarcastically, stretching her shoulders and following him with a resigned air. "How any times do I have to state, I'm not a fighter?!" she whined as she climbed the stairs out of Ops.

Dustin grinned a little and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as he narrowly avoided walking into Taelin. In response, Taelin blushed and smiled at him a little before walking down the hall to the meditation room in the back.

Giving me a knowing look, Shane nodded his head to me and grabbed Dustin's arm, dragging the Earth Ninja out into the forest to train, as Cam sighed and stalked into the back room.

I looked at Sensei, maying hoping he'd explain why he chose _me_ to look after Blake in this form, but all he did was give me a warm smile and hop on to his habitat, settling down into a meditative state.

_Ok, now what?_ I thought cluelessly, looking down at the navy scaled head. Biting my lip, I brought up my free hand and ran it over the scales lightly. _I probably shouldn't just stay here, but what else can I do? Sensei stated Blake should not leave Ops in this form._ Turning my head, I looked at the hall and nodded briefly to myself, getting up carefully and carrying the sleeping dragon down to an empty room. _Well, we're safe here, so why not meditate?_

Closing the door behind me, I turned and looked around a moment before shrugging, wincing when I got a slightly irritated sounding squeak and Blake shifted again. "Sorry." I whispered, biting back a giggle as I walked to the edge of the bed and sat down.

Blake's form wriggled again and I losened my hold, looking down and blinking a moment as my eyes met two deep chocolate ones, looking back up at me in clear confusion.

"Uh, hi." I stated uncertainly. _Angie _did_ say he'd be able to understand us, right?_ I thought akwardly. "Uhh... The others had to train, and Sensei asked me to look after you?" I offered weakly with a shrug. "Not that I mind!" I added quickly, realizing it may have sounded like I didn't want to help him.

His head ducked down and his eyes filled with amusement, making me turn a deep shade of red, I'm sure. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and froze when I felt his warm, scaled head rubbing lightly against my cheek. Opening my eyes again, I looked at him in confusion.

_Did he just..._nuzzle_ me?_

(With Hunter and Angie, Normal POV)

"Will you _please_ tell me where we're going?!" Angie called as she raced along behind him, struggling to keep up. "And maybe slow down, seeing as how _I'm not a ninja_!"

Rolling his eyes, Hunter slowed down and looked back, wincing as Angie stumbled over a rock and fell against a tree. He didn't smell pain or blood, but felt bad that he was pushing her like this. "Sorry. I just figured..." He looked away and sighed. "I dunno _what_ I was thinking." he muttered quietly.

"Are you still worried about Blake?" she asked breathlessly as she finally caught up to him, her tone softening.

_Actually, no, I wasn't even thinking of him._ he thought in surprise. _I mean, I know he's safe with Tori_. "No." he answered simply, with a shrug.

She blinked a moment, staring at him expectantly and raising an eyebrow when he made seemed to have no intention of explaining. "Well? What were you thinking of, then? It had to be pretty important..."

"We're supposed to train, not chat." he stated gruffly, feeling uncomfortable about her questioning. It wasn't really the questions, or that it was her asking them, but the fact that he almost found himself actually answering them.

Looking around, he sighed. "This place is as good as any."

Angie looked around and glared at him incredulously. "You can't be serious! There's no room to move without tripping over _something_!"

And that was true. That was what Hunter wanted. He planned to teach her how to use nature's cover to help her maneuver away from enemies, or confuse them. There were fallen logs all over the place, some piles of unstable rocks, and a steep incline, and the trees were heavy. "This place is perfect." he muttered. "You'll need to learn how to use whatever's around you, in order to survive." he said, turning to face her.

Blinking a moment, she shook her head. "That sounds advanced. In case you forgot, I'm a beginner." She looked around. "This place is a death trap waiting to happen!"

"And has the perfect tools for you to use against your enemies." he ground out from between his teeth, closing his eyes and rubbing them. "I'll give you some time to think of ways to use the elements here to your advantage."

"You really must hate me." she muttered under her breath, walking a little ways away and folding her arms over her chest as she concentrated.

Hunter felt a stab of pain in his heart at those words and winced, looking down at the ground. _No, actually, I don't._ "I'm training you, like I'm supposed to." he stated quietly. Thinking for a moment, he sighed and looked up again, forcing his indifferent mask back in place. "What would happen if you were ever attacked in a place like this? Kelzacks won't give you time to think, or a chance to chose a 'safer' location." he stated firmly.

_Maybe, but still..._ Shaking her head, she refused to look at him, fully aware that her words hurt him, seeing as how he stunk of pain at hearing them.

"It's not as bad as you think." he continued. "Besides, if you learn now, with me, you'll be prepared for if it ever happens."

Looking at him with a raised eyebrow, Angie brushed her lose hair out of her face, recalling a certain incident when Hunter came at her with everything he had, and shuddered a bit. _Not very comforting._ But, like back in Ops... He was still trying. "Fine." she stated reluctantly.

Going over the area around them with her eyes, she mentally listed ideas that came to her mind as soon as she saw them.

_The piles of rocks... I can use those to trip the monsters, or as projectiles. I'll have to be careful that I don't slip on them, though._

_The fallen trees..._ Her eyes narrowed as she looked at a small opening. _I can use them as a hiding place, but it would put me in danger and mean game over if the 'kelzacks' decided to blast them. Otherwise, I can use them as cover from attacks, and ways to sneak up on the enemy._

_The steep incline in the hill... I can use that, if I get close to the top, to turn and give any attacks better strength, by running down and using my speed as my advantage. Still, slipping or tripping is a danger there, too._

Reluctantly, she admitted that this did seem like a pretty good place to train. After a few moments of thinking up strategies, she nodded and turned to Hunter...

...Only to find he was gone.

Angie's jaw dropped as she looked around and she felt her anger rising. _He better not have..._

That's all she had time to think as a figure dropped out of a nearby tree and she felt a pain in her chest, sending her flying back. Lying on the ground as she clutched her chest, she looked up to find Hunter staring at her in disappointment, and glared angrily at him. _Oh boy, here we go again._

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Yeah, they're STILL trying to teach her martial arts. LOL. At least they're getting along better...I think.

Hope you like it so far.

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"Are you serious? I can heal?"

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	12. Chapter 12

**star-dreamer09** - I love adding the little parts in. LOL. Well, for Taelin, I felt Shane had too much of a serious personality, Cam was just scary to her as a child (LOL), and Hunter and Blake were like older brothers. So Dustin seemed perfect. Yeah, I wanted Hunter and Angie to get along better by now, but dug myself into a spot where it MUST go slowly or won't work (to me).

I think you'll like the next chapter. It should deal more with Hunter's weakness period, as a dragon.

**Mrs.Quincy25** - I'm glad you like the couplings. Hunter is very slowly learning that he likes Angie. i wanted it to go a bit faster, but ended up diging myself into a point where it came out like this.

**JuseaPeterson** - I'm glad I was able to show their emotions well. Yeah, I wanted to have Hunter open up slowly to her and not be all, 'I hate you' one day and 'I love you' the next. I know, Dragon Blake is totally adorable. And I can picture those things happening as if I'd seen them in the show, so it helps in the description.

Just wait for Dragon Hunter's appearance.

But yeah, I tried to think all Ninja-ie for the training session and such, and how they would use the elements against their enemies, without resorting to powers and stuff.

And yeah, Dustin seemed like a good choice for Taelin.

I'm glad you had a good Thanksgiving. My computer's still going, so if I suddenly seem to stop updating, that's why. And I'll probably focus more on finishing this fic asap, than anything else, but I'll try to get to any emails and such.

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(Next Day, at the beach, Angie's POV)

"Ow! That hurt!" I yelled, clutching my side and glaring at Hunter.

Standing up, he frowned and seemed to wince a little. "Sorry." he muttered quietly, rubbing his neck sheepishly. "I forgot you were still hurt."

I bit back my reply to that when I realized just how innocent he looked today. He gazed at the blue sky and his eyes almost seemed to glaze a bit, and I was caught by the barely visible expression of longing on his face as he watched the clouds.

His blonde hair was a little messier than usual. I guessed he probably didn't spend much time with brushing it and stuff, seeing as how Sensei ordered us to spar at 7 in the morning, in public, so that neither of us would forget and use our powers... Not like I really had powers to use...

We wore baggy black jogging pants and a crimson t-shirt that showed off his well-toned torso, which was slightly sweaty from the workout we'd had already.

Raising an eyebrow, I shook my head a little. _Bad thoughts. Don't wanna go there..._ I thought furiously, feeling my face heat up.

Me? I'm sitting on my backside, in the sand, wondering how in the world they deal with this kind of 'training' every day. My beige shorts were soaked from the tide, and covered in sand, and my sweater was weighing me down from the water, making it so that I had to take it off and continue in my blue tank top.

"You ok?"

I blinked and snapped back to reality, noticing that my gaze had travelled to my bruised side, and I was just staring at it. Looking up, I jumped a little to find Hunter kneeling right in front of me, a look of concern etched into his face.

"You should heal that. I know you said you don't heal yourself, but it's only gonna slow you down." he stated with his eyes narrowed at my side.

"Did you know..." I began, trailing off when I realized that it was way off topic. "Never mind."

He looked at me expectantly, one eyebrow slightly raised, and remained silent.

Closing my eyes, I pursed my lips before opening my eyes again. "Well, I was gonna state that you should learn to heal, too."

Now he frowned a little. "Me? Heal?"

"Why not?" I asked with a shrug. "Your elements are fire and thunder, yeah, but I can sense the healing power in you."

He shifted so he was sitting beside me and looked at me carefully. "Are you serious? I can heal?"

I blinked a moment and nodded. "Yeah, I really am serious." Then I giggled and shook my head. "And it's not hard to learn."

He nodded absently. "Still, that's not gonna help you. You should heal your side."

"And I'll be totally drained and unable to move for the rest of the day." I informed him in a bored tone. Hunter's head shot to me with wide eyes and I shrugged. "I'm not a strong healer, remember?"

Closing his eyes, he sighed loudly before pushing himself into a standing position and reaching down to help me up, mindful of my side. "Well, we're supposed to spar."

"Then spar we should." I quipped, turning and skipping along the sand a little before turning back to him. "Well?" I crouched down into a defensive position and waited.

Hunter seemed to copy me before frowning and shaking his head. Standing up straight, he walked over and behind me, wrapping one arm losely around my waist, and the other going to my hands. "Your stance is all wrong."

I could only nod dumbly as I felt his muscled abs pressing against my back. Blinking furiously, I felt my face heat up and followed what he was doing, with my eyes, as he raised my left arm a little and lowered my right, straightening a fist I'd made. _Think unattractive thoughts... Think unattractive thoughts... Uhhh..._

Now, Dragon Clan have enhanced senses. I was trying to save myself from dying of embarrassment if Hunter happened to smell my interest and embarrassment.

_Umm... Come on, Ang... Hunter doing ballet!_ My face heated up even more. ..._Equals _really_ tight spandex... Bad thought... Uh, Shane in drag!_

That worked.

Unfortunately, I had such an active imagination, I could actually picture it and it made me bust up into laughter while trying not to cry. My legs actually gave out on me as I pictured Tori helping Shane decide what dress to wear, and Taelin helping him with his make-up, and I felt two arms wrap around me, holding me up and reminding me I wasn't alone.

"What's wrong with you?!" Hunter demanded as I panted for breath.

_My god! Where'd that come from?! _Shaking my head, I giggled again. "Just a random thought." I stated breathlessly, waving my arm dismissively.

Moving to stand on my own, although my legs were still shaky, I turned and raised my arms again, struggling to recall how he placed them. "Like this?" I asked innocently, hoping he'd drop it.

Narrowing his eyes, Hunter closed them a moment and walked forward, reaching out to straighten one of my fists. "Whatever." I heard him grumble under his breath. He moved behind me again and I felt his hands on my sides. "Your arms are right, but..."

Suddenly, my eyes widened as I felt his hand on my lower, left leg. He pushed it so it slid away from my right, widening my stance, and I jumped away with a nervous giggle, turning to him as I checked my watch. "Hey, listen, I gotta get going." Looking at him, I allowed a genuine smile come over my face and tilted my head a little. "I really think we made some progress."

He raised an eyebrow and gave me an incredulous look as he folded his arms over his chest.

_Oh, right, we didn't. _I thought with a blush as I ducked my head. "Uh, thanks for helping me." I stated quickly, turning and running off with a wave over my shoulder.

(Ops)

"So...they'll be ok out there?" I asked Cam nervously as he typed at his computer.

Taelin and I were standing behind him, worried sick about the others. Cam actually had to lock Blake into one of the back rooms to keep him from flying off after the others. I mean, he couldn't help like that, but we all knew he wouldn't stay behind peacefully while Tori and Hunter were out there, fighting.

Speaking of Taelin, it looked like she was watching the whole fight, but the way her eyes narrowed in concern, and she bit her lip, I knew she was focused on a single Ranger alone.

Dustin.

Me? I actually blushed when I found myself watching Hunter fight off a group of kelzacks. I couldn't help it! I don't really know what drew me, but I found myself watching closely, feeling anxious, as he flew through the air, blasting a group of the monsters with his combined thunder and fire powers. His dragon wings almost glowed with energy, glinting ruby from the sun's rays, and I kind of wished I could see him with his wings, outside of his Ranger form.

_You know, I didn't realize it until now, but they never use their wings outside of battle._ I thought in confusion.

Cam sighed and nodded. "They'll be fine, but in the mean time..." He spun and gaze us both pointed looks as he grabbed our arms and pulled us away from the computer before sitting back down. "Do you mind giving me some space?"

"I should be out there." I stated with a nervous frown, feeling my heart constrict in worry when Dustin was blasted into a nearby tree and laid on the ground, holding his stomach. "I have to do _something!_"

Taelin nodded in agreement, biting her bottom lip as she watched Tori and Shane help Dustin up.

"But you're not a fighter." Cam pointed out. He seemed to think about something as he turned back and began typing again. "You said Hunter could learn to heal and it's not difficult?"

I nodded absently, only half listening as Hunter raced forward with his thunderstaff and swiped across the stomach of the lead monster, knocking it back. _You can do it..._ I mentally cheered.

"Then why don't you go keep Blake company and think of a way to do that? We might need the ability."

"So you can lock _me_ in there, too?" I demanded suspiciously. "I don't think so!"

He turned his head and gave me a look. "Do you want to help or not? Because right now, you're not."

Looking at the floor, I knew he was right, but I couldn't help being worried for them. Still, it hurt to hear it.

He seemed to realize that, too. "Look, Angie, I'm-"

"Don't." I interrupted quietly. "You're right." Turning, I gave one final glance to the monitor and sighed before heading into the back room. I had to bring my wings out and mantle, in order to keep Blake from rushing past me, and when I grabbed him, he glared at me so angrily, I was sure he was gonna fry me, but instead, he huffed and seemed to surrender. "Don't worry." I said lowly. "I got sent here for detension, too."

Looking at me in confusion, Blake just remained quiet. I didn't really blame him. On one hand, he _couldn't_ talk to me if he wanted, and on the other, I doubt he understood what I meant.

Going to the table by the far wall, I sat him on it before going to the bed and sitting on the edge of it with a huff of my own. "You wouldn't know how to teach healing, would you?" I asked with a grimace. _I can sense the power, and know a little bit how to do it, but teach?_ "Who knows? It's probably the same as using their other powers."

I had to remind myself to ask one of them later, how they used their powers.

(Two Days Later, Ops)

Well, Blake turned back yesterday, and boy, he wasn't too happy about being a dragon. I did hear him mumbling about some parts 'being worth it' but otherwise, he was pretty peeved.

Hunter of course was laughing about the whole thing. Tori was quiet but seemed torn between smacking Hunter upside the head and laughing, herself.

Me, I was biting back a grin. You see, there was one thing I _didn't_ tell the others.

Hunter and Blake's dragon sides were brothers.

Blood brothers.

And since Blake just turned back from his weakness state, Hunter was due for his at any time now.

"You know, Hunter, I wouldn't be laughing if I were you." I stated with a grin, feeling a minor energy pulse from him.

Now, he and Blake were still new to all this, so undoubtedly, they couldn't read energies that well, but after years of finding the pulses unusual and focusing on them, I've tought myself to read the minor fluctuations, and right before the weakness period, there was always a small one that showed the body was preparing to transform. At least, I learned to sense it in myself, and figured it was true for the others.

He turned to me, his grin fading, and a suspicious look crossed over his face as he saw the grin. Narrowing his eyes, I watched as they seemed to begin to glow a slight crimson. _Yep. Here it comes... _"Why? What's going on?" he asked warily.

"Well..." I bit my lip and giggled a bit as I looked at the others. Most of them had remained fairly silent through all this, but I knew their interest was peaked at my words. "I never did tell you, but you know how you and Blake are adopted brothers?" His eyes were glowing a bit brighter now, and I'm sure it was noticeable to everyone.

He nodded warily, and Blake raised an eyebrow in suspicion as well. "What's that got to do with anything?" he asked as he seemed to bite back a wince.

"You're blood brothers as well, in a minor sense. The Dragons are blood brothers." I stated, my grin growing a bit. "And if there's one thing you should realize..." I paused and pursed my lips as his eyes widened in unconcealed horror. "No, you probably realized it already."

"No." he stated quietly as he shook his head. Closing his eyes, he sighed loudly. "You can't be serious."

"Oh, I am. Have fun." I stated with an evil grin, waving as crimson energy formed, like a mist, and surrounded his body. A moment later and it cleared, leaving behind a rather testy looking ruby dragon with crystal clear, blue eyes.

_Since I didn't do it with Blake..._ I thought evilly. I clapped my hands together and gave and huge squeal. "Awwwwww! He's soooo cute!" I cooed, running over and picking up the dragon.

Blake's jaw dropped, and his eyes widened. He looked like he wanted to stop me for a moment, but then he began to shake, and a moment later he busted up into laughter, falling on his butt and holding his sides as he shook his head.

Tori snickered and sat beside Blake, letting him lean his head on her shoulder as he laughed.

Taelin giggled and walked over beside me. "Hunter, you're so adorable!" she cooed as well, rubbing him under the chin with a finger. Then she quickly pulled her hand out of the way, laughing as Hunter snapped his jaw at her with a glare.

Growling at us, he huffed loudly and folded his tiny arms over his chest as I held him, closing his eyes. If I didn't know any better, I'd have sworn he was blushing in embarrassment, too.

"Don't be mad." I stated with a pout. I don't even know what came over me, but the next thing I knew, I was clutching him to my chest and rubbing his back lightly, noting that his wings were mantled widely, showing just how peeved he was. "Aww, come on." I stated softly. "We were just joking! But, hey..." I pulled him away from my chest, seeing that his eyes were wide and his wings weren't as mantled as before. "Now you know how Blake felt." I said firmly with a raised eyebrow, holding him out to the said Navy Ninja.

Shaking his head, Blake scooted back a little. "Thanks but I don't wanna lose any fingers." he stated with a grin.

"You're his brother." I stated pointedly. "Like he's gonna bite you, no matter how mad he is. Me, on the other hand..." Realizing my digits were in danger, I quickly turned and plopped him in Taelin's arms, laughing as she turned and unceremoniously dumped him in Dustin's arms, folding her own arms across her chest and hiding her hands in her armpits.

"Dude! Why give him to me?!" Dustin cried, turning to hand him to Shane, but Shane had already raced across the room and was almost hiding behind Cam at that point. Realizing no one was near him, to hand Hunter off to, he looked at the little ruby dragon nervously. "Nice little dragon. Good little dragon. You don't wanna bite good old Dusty, do ya?" he asked with an uncertain smile.

I think Hunter was not really sure what to make of all this. On one hand, he was a little peeved and was glaring at Dustin with semi-mantled wings, and on the other, he just seemed confused.

"Ok, enough with the hand-offs." Tori stated, standing up. Dustin quickly turned to her and held Hunter out, but she took a quick step back, slipping her hands behind her back. "Who here thinks Angie should take care of him?" She raised her hand.

Everyone else immediately raised their hands, and Dustin turned to me expectantly, holding the dragon formed Hunter in one hand.

"Me?!" I demanded. "Are you forgetting, Hunter and me don't get along?!"

Blake turned to Hunter with a raised eyebrow and they seemed to speak mentally. "I still think you should take care of him." he insisted, plucking the ruby dragon out of Dustin's hands and placing him in mine before turning and walking off with a smirk, grabbing Tori's hand on the way and dragging her with him.

Dustin nodded. "Dude, good idea. I'm totally with him." Looking around, he noticed Taelin was the only one near him, and Shane was already gone, so with a shrug, he grabbed her hand and dragged her out of Ops, seemingly not noticing her blush.

Shane had run off _long_ ago, and Cam was typing on his computer.

"Well, this is fun." I stated sarcastically. "And exactly what am I supposed to do?! If I lose any fingers, you guys are the ones who are gonna pay for it!" I warned loudly.

Hunter blinked in my arms a moment before giving me this look that I was certain, was supposed to mimic the one he had in human form, where he raises a single eyebrow. Shaking his head, he let it hang limply, along with his wings, and seemed to surrender to my hold.

Immediately I felt bad. This was the first time he'd ever turned into a dragon and the first thing he had to deal with was everyone teasing him. Then the others dumped him on me to take care of.

Deciding to take a page out of Tori's book, I turned and went into one of the spare rooms in the hallway. One that _wasn't_ mine.

Hey, my room was a mess! Did you really expect me to take him there?!

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(Yawns) I'm so tired, but I wanted to get more up. I was supposed to post this last night, but ended up going to bed and forgetting about it. Sorry about that.

Hope you all like this. I was following a thing **JuseaPeterson** once mentioned, that Hunter would likely be more of a testy/feisty dragon than what I had planned.

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"And sorry about teasing you. I just kinda wanted to do that since Blake's transformation, but figured I'd leave it for Tori."

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	13. Chapter 13

(Angie's POV)

Ok, so leaving him with me for the day might not have been so bad. Once he calmed down, he seemed intrigued by the whole dragon thing and seemed determined to learn to fly in that form.

I'm guessing Blake had some troubles as well, but after four nose-dives off the bed, I was surprised Hunter was still trying.

I'm sure you're wondering how he got back up on the bed. Well, dragons have clawed hands. One thing those claws come in handy for, is climbing up bed sheets.

Do you know how adorable it is to watch a little ruby dragon climbing up the side of a bed, only to walk to the edge and take another nose-dive off it? Especially when you see him flapping his wings really hard, trying to fly?

Giggling from my spot on the floor, I winced in sympathy when his face met with the floor again and he just laid there. Sighing, I walked over and picked him up, holding him carefully in my arms as I checked out his face.

Already, I could make out bruised scales around his one eyes and I shook my head sadly, thankful the scales were hard enough to protect from worse damage.

"Ok, first of all, you're trying too hard." I stated with a raised eyebrow as I took him over to the bed and placed him down on it, kneeling at the edge so I was right in front of him. "Hold still." I murmured as I placed a hand over his bruised eye.

I felt him pull back a little from the touch, but he quickly settled and I closed my eyes in concentration. I felt a heat in my hand and knew it was glowing a bright white, and a moment later, I panted a little, feeling a headache come on as I opened my eyes and pulled my hand back, giving a small smile to Hunter, who's eyes were wide.

"You don't need to _flap_ your wings like that." I said pointedly. "You need to learn balance, and then it'll come instinctively."

He blinked a moment before his eyes seemed to soften and he nodded a little. His wings shifted and he slowly settled down.

I turned my back to the bed and settled against it more comfortably. "You know, being stuck in dragon form isn't so bad. I mean, it gives you a chance to learn more about your dragon side, and time to think."

He gave a clearly uninterested huff, and I nodded.

"Yeah, sorry about not telling you about the blood relation thing. I dunno. I guess I figured you'd both figure it out on your own. Wasn't it weird you could read each other's minds and no one elses? I was there, fully Dragon Clan, and you couldn't read my mind and I can't read yours."

Turning my head, I watched as his eyes went wide with realization.

"And sorry about teasing you. I just kinda wanted to do that since Blake's transformation, but figured I'd leave it for Tori."

Hunter snickered and I saw clear amusement in his eyes.

Smiling a little, I tilted my head and brushed my hair behind my ear. "Besides, you really are cute."

Instantly, my eyes widened and I felt like I just stuck my face in an oven. I opened and closed my mouth a few times to try to say..._something_ to cover that little slip, but as his own eyes widened, I closed my eyes and turned away, wondering if it was possible to die from embarrassment. "I mean..." Sighing heavily, I got up. "I think I'll leave you to...think." I stated lamely.

There was a loud squeak, and a grunt, and I turned to end up with a handful of ruby dragon.

_Well, I guess he learned to fly...somewhat._ I thought dryly as he looked up at me with wide, pleading eyes. "You...don't want me to leave?" I thought in confusion.

His eyes shot to the door before he slowly shook his head, letting it rest on my shoulder.

"Umm...ok." I said akwardly, going to the bed and laying flat on my back. I closed my eyes and struggled to will my body to relax, but it was a little difficult when I was still mortified by my slip, and I could feel the warmth of his body resting length-wise along my torso. _So, what should I talk about? Or maybe, I shouldn't talk about anything?_

I lost myself in my thoughts, trying to relax and think of something to say at the same time. I don't know how long we were silent, but Sensei's words about Hunter and Blake's parents seemed to hit me out of nowhere, and I realized that Hunter still didn't know that I knew.

And if nothing else, he deserved to know.

"Um, Sensei told me, you know, about your parents." I began, weakly.

Hunter's body stiffened up a great deal, and I could feel his anger and pain. After a moment though, felt him sigh and his body relaxed a bit, the anger slowly fading away, leaving the pain.

"I'm sorry." _Not a good thing to say._ I thought dryly with a grimace. _Hunter would probably take it as pity._ "I mean, I didn't know, and here I was, being so stubborn for you guys." I closed my eyes and thought about my own family. "Mine are still..." I made a face. "Alive, I think. I dunno. We were never that close. Dad was always distant, and my mom slowly seemed to follow his lead."

I laughed a little. "When I moved out, my mom was the only one to show any concern, but it didn't last. I know they're ok, but we just don't talk."

His head shifted closer to my neck and his clawed hand rubbed my shoulder a little. It was weird, but I knew it was the closest thing to comfort he could offer in that form.

"But it's ok. It bothered me at first, until I realized how busy life can be. I just ended up losing contact with them, but I check in once in a while, to make sure they're ok." I said lightly, my eyes still closed.

There was a knock at the door, and I felt Hunter stiffen up as i opened my eyes and called for whoever it was to come in. Tori entered, with Blake behind her.

"Hey. Listen, we're all about ready to head to our homes. Uhh..." Tori hesitated and turned to Blake.

Rubbing the back of his head, his eyes focused on Hunter as the ruby dragon stood slowly and carefully turned sideways to face them, his tail wrapping losely around my upper arm, and his neck resting along my throat, lightly.

I raised an eyebrow, getting the idea it was all absent on his part, and remaining still, since I wasn't really uncomfortable...yet.

"Well, when I was in dragon form, Sensei thought it was best for me to stay at Ops and I stayed with Taelin. Hunter, you're gonna have to stay, too, but you can stay with Angie or Taelin." he said akwardly.

Hunter stayed quiet, but gazed into Blake's eyes a moment, and soon, Blake nodded.

"He told me Sensei told you about our parents. That's good because it's hard for us to talk about." he stated with a frown.

Hunter kept gazing at Blake, and the Navy Ninja smirked.

"Yeah, I'll leave you guys to rest." he said almost evilly as he pulled Tori out of the room, gently. "'Night." he stated with a wave.

"I _so_ don't wanna know." I grumbled quietly, closing my eyes.

Shifting again, Hunter turned and rested his head on my shoulder, seemingly realizing his tail was wrapped around my arm. He loosened his hold but didn't move it.

I don't know how long we laid like that, in silence, but before long, I felt total relaxation from Hunter and carefully looked to find he'd fallen asleep. Smiling a little, I brought my free hand up and carefully shifted him to lie on the bed.

His eyes opened groggily as I turned on my side, and I felt myself relaxing. Simply looking at me a moment, he blinked a couple of times before getting up and crawling over to me, snuggling into my side and curling up into a tiny ball.

Draping my arm losely over his form, I brushed a hand against his claws and felt them curl before one reached out and rested against my hand, making me stop. Then, he relaxed and seemed to fall asleep again, like that.

I couldn't help the grin on my face at just how adorable he was. "I was right, you _are_ really cute." I whispered quietly, curling up and letting my eyes close as sleep finally claimed me.

(Next Day, Normal POV)

"I just _had_ to go for a trip into town, alone." Angie grumbled as she rubbed her aching back. Jump[ing up quickly, she hissed in pain and glared at the kelzacks in front of her. "With no way to contact the others."

Oh, sure, Cam was working on a communicator type thing for her, but it still wasn't finished. In the mean time, she was stuck facing off against a good dozen monsters, all on her own.

"Well, I can fight, or run and hide." she stated thoughtfully, ducking under a swing from one of them. She countered with her own punch and winced as she quickly shook her throbbing hand, watching as the kelzack only stumbled back a foot. "Ow! That hurt me more than him!" she whimpered as she took a few quick steps back. _Ok, come on guys!_ she mentally prayed. _I'm sure you know by now that I'm under attack..._

There was a sharp pain in her side and she was tossed back into a parked car, feeling her back impact and crying out in pain as she fell to the ground.

Suddenly, there was a loud squeak, and all the kelzacks stopped in confusion, looking around.

Angie bit her lip and closed her eyes. "Oh, no." she groaned, already knowing what was happening. Looking up at the sky, she watched as a small ruby dragon flew in circles over her head and blasted the kelzacks with a weak blast of pure fire energy.

His aim wasn't bad though, and he managed to get one in the rear end, making Angie giggle uncontrollably as it hopped around, patting it's rear as it tried to put the fire out.

Then there was a pink blast and Hunter squeaked loudly in pain as he fell from the sky, landing right in front of Angie, smoking and barely moving.

Feeling her eyes widen in horror, she reached forward, barely able to place a hand on his side. "Hunter!" she shouted, struggling to crawl forward.

"Awww!"

She looked up quickly to see two strangely dressed girls stalk on to the scene. One had pink hair and an evil smirk, and the other had brown hair and an awed expression on her face.

"It's sooo cute!" the brown haired girl squealed. Turning to the other girl, she clapped her hands together. "Kapri, you think Uncle will let me have another pet?"

The pink haired girl, Kapri, groaned and shook her head. "Marah, you couldn't take care of a goldfish, a puppy or a mini Choobo. What makes you think Uncle will let ou have a dragon?" Then she smirked. "Me, on the other hand..."

"I don't think so!" Angie growled out angrily, feeling her wings form and mantle widely as she slowly managed to sit up. She placed her hand on Hunter's side and concentrated the best she could, while glaring at them. "He's not gonna be anyone's _pet_!"

Her hand began to glow, and she quickly felt her energy draining, switching her gaze to watch as Hunter's eyes slowly opened. He was still very weak, but at least he'd survive.

Still, she held on as long as she could, blinking rapidly when her vision began to blur.

"And who's gonna stop us?" Kapri demanded coldly. Her eyes narrowed as she took in what was going on. "And what are you supposed to be?"

Angie carefully picked up the wounded ruby dragon and held him close to her. "Many people." she croaked with a grin, feeling that her wings were still widely mantled. She faintly sensed another Dragon Clan coming closer, along with several familiar smells, and relaxed a little, refusing to release her hold on Hunter.

"Like who?" Marah asked in confusion.

"Us!" Blake's voice called from behind them. "Bro! Angie!" He streaked past the two girls, while the others quickly engaged them in battle, and she closed her eyes as she felt his arms on hers, feeling darkness overwhelming her.

Still, as much as she wanted to pass out, she could hear Blake's voice calling her name frantically, demanding to know what happened. But, she couldn't answer. She honestly didn't know. All she knew was... "One of those girls blasted Hunter." Angie stated drowsily, wondering if he even heard or understood her words.

Then, she gave in to the darkness, feeling content that at least Hunter was safe.

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What was my plotline again? Or did I even have one? (Blinks blankly) I'm just writing right now, with no idea where I am supposed to go. LOL.

Awwwww! (squeals) Dragon Hunter and Dragon Blake. They're just... so Kawaii!!!

Hope you like it.

R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	14. Chapter 14

**Holding Out For A Hero** - I'm glad you like it so far. :)

**Mrs.Quincy25** - Hey, that's mean! LOL True, but mean... And hey, he can't talk, but he can still growl/squeak/grumble/huff, and don't forget, he can 'talk' telepathically with Blake.

...Poor Blake. LOL.

You know, Hunter _does_ have a tendancy to stick his foot in his mouth, doesn't he? LOL

**JuseaPeterson** - I was thinking of how they'd transform, and it just hit me out of nowhere. Plus, I loved having Angie tease Hunter about it and his response. I laughed while imagining Dragon Hunter with his arms folded across his chest and a silent glare.

Hmm...Hunter and Blake talking telepathically? I'm not sure how I'd do with a chapter on that, but I can give it a try.

**GinaStar** - I just can't help but go 'awwwwwww' at the image of them as Dragons.

**pinklen98** - Yeah, figures Hunter would be easier to get along with in Dragon form. Then again, it helps that he can be easy to read, sometimes. LOL. I'm glad you're loving it so far. I've been stuck with Dragon Blake and Dragon Hunter ideas for a long time and they're only getting stronger.

Does it help I'm a massive fan of Hunter/OC? I mean, Hunter/Kelly is good, but I love Hunter/OC, too.

Thank you to all my reviewers! I'm glad you're liking the fic so far.

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(Later, At Ops, Taelin's POV)

"What were you thinking, Hunter?!" Blake demanded as he stalked around Ops, his wings fully mantled.

Thankfully, another bonus to dragon blood is that their wounds heal a lot faster. Angie did a lot of good with her powers, and in the time he had to rest, Hunter had healed almost fully.

It had been about two hours since the attack. Angie was still out, but from exhaustion, from pushing herself to heal Hunter as much as she possibly could.

"You could've been killed!" he shouted, his glare showing more than anger. It also held terror at the thought of losing his big brother. "I could've lost you!"

Hunter's head sagged lowly and his wings lowered towards the ground, showing his guilt, but his gaze showed that he'd have done it again if need be.

"Blake..." I whispered, reaching out to him carefully.

"What?!" he spun to me angrily, glaring with glowing navy eyes.

I knew he didn't mean to scare or hurt me, but I still couldn't help but cringe at his tone and step back.

A set of hands landed gently on my shoulder and I leaned back into the embrace for security, realizing it was Dustin and blushing. "Dude, you don't need to yell at her." he said lowly, his own voice sounding kind of peeved. "She's just worried about you."

He nodded slowly and closed his eyes, his wings slowly folding against his back as he willed himself to calm down. "Sorry, Tae." he stated hoarsely.

Tori moved forward and he seemed to sense it, because he turned and held on to her tightly, burying his face in her neck and shaking a little, though I knew he wasn't crying.

It had been close. Hunter had been really badly hurt, and if it wasn't for Angie... She couldn't heal much, no, but she was able to give him the energy boost he needed to heal himself.

"It was bad, Hunter." I said with a frown. "You're like a big brother to me, remember? You and Blake both. I could've lost you, too." I felt tears come to my eyes and walked over, picking up the little ruby dragon and holding him tightly to me. "Do you know how much that idea scares me? That's why we all agreed that in dragon form, you or Blake, or even Angie, were to stay at Ops, no matter what."

He looked at Blake, and the said Navy Ranger spun to him with a glare, still clutching Tori's hand. "I know she was in danger!" he yelled. "We all knew, but you didn't give us a chance to do anything!"

"Hunter, what you did was reckless." Sensei admonished with a frown, finally speaking up. "Not only did you put Angie in more danger by dividing her attention, you put yourself in danger and exposed your secret to Lothor."

"But, Lothor already knew about the Thunder Rangers having dragon wings and stuff." Shane stated with a confused look.

"Yes, but seeing Hunter in this weakened state will allow him to realize you now have more vulnerabilities." Sighing, Sensei seemed to think a moment. "Alright. Blake, you and Hunter are to remain at Ops for a while, for safety. Especially Hunter, while he is in dragon form."

Blake nodded immediately, obviously willing to take on anything, as long as it guaranteed Hunter's safety.

"We only have three guest rooms." Cam informed his father with a raised eyebrow.

"Blake and Hunter can stay together, and Taelin and Angie can keep their rooms. If there is a problem, and they need time apart, Hunter can go to one of the girls." Sensei stated firmly.

His blue eyes narrowed as he looked at the others, but with a huff, Hunter shook his head and flew off, heading back to one of the back rooms.

I sighed at what was going on and felt the hands on my shoulders tighten, reminding me that I was still leaning against Dustin. Feeling my face heat up, I tried to pull away, but his hands held me in place, squeezing lightly to show it was alright.

Blake gave me a look with a raised eyebrow, and I stuck my tongue out at him, for lack of a better response. That caused Tori to giggle and Shane to grin as Blake looked shocked at my response.

"What was that about?!" he demanded with a mock glare.

I shrugged. "I felt like it."

"Someone's been spending too much time around Angie." Cam muttered as he turned back to his computer and began doing a scan on the zords.

I felt my jaw drop as I stared at him and everyone else began to laugh, making me blush deeply. Leaning back into Dustin's hold, I giggled again and slipped my hands behind me, poking him in the side, and making him yelp as he squirmed away.

One thing I learned as a child, Dustin is very ticklish.

So I turned and chased him around Ops, jumping on his back at one point and tickling him savagely, until he fell over and begged for mercy.

(Angie's POV)

"Oh, maaaaan!" With a groan, I turned my head to the side and slowly opened my eyes, feeling like my head was going to explode from the pressure. "I feel like I got run over by a transport, then they decided to back up and run me over three more times." I whimpered, closing my eyes once I'd identified my location as back at Ops, and rubbing my temples lightly.

There was a small squeak, but with the migrane I had, I still couldn't bite back a wince when it seemed to echo through my head. "Hi to you too." I stated quietly.

It took me a moment to identify that it was a certain little ruby dragon, and once I did, my eyes flew open and I sat up quickly, swaying a little as everything spun and my head throbbed.

"Ok, _not_ a good idea." I stated as I closed my eyes and held my head.

Feeling little claws on my lap, I looked down and blinked a moment to find Hunter sitting beside me, his front legs braced on my legs and his upper body pushed right upright so that his face was like an inch from mine.

What made me wince was the glare in his eyes as he crawled up on my lap and reached up to press his legs against my stomach. Even with how small he was, I could tell he was trying to push me back down and couldn't help but giggle, feeling bad when he shot me another glare.

And no, it wasn't an angry glare, but a worried one.

I knew he was trying to get me to lie back down and rest, but I felt fine.

Everything spun again and I closed my eyes. _Tired, but fine._ I thought dryly. "Hunter, I'm ok." I stated quietly.

He let up on the pushing, but not on the glare. He just sat there with his front legs against my stomach and glared at me steadily, unblinkingly.

Is it just me, or does that get a bit freaky after about five minutes of staring at him?

I mean, he didn't blink, or move. If he hadn't been breathing and giving the odd growl, I'd have sworn he was a statue or something.

"Ok, ok!"

Turning my head, I watched as Blake walked in, rubbing his temple with one hand.

"I get it! I'm here!" he hissed with a frown, waving his hand. "What?"

I turned back to Hunter and jumped a little to find him still glaring at me. _Ok, _very_ freaky_. I thought as I blinked at him and raised an eyebrow. "And the glare of the year award goes to..." I said quietly.

Hearing a snort, I turned to find Blake grinning broadly at his brother, his arms folded across his chest. "I agree." he said lightly, to me, before turning back to his brother. "Bro, relax." He sighed and faced me. "He's practically ordering you to rest more after the whole battle thing."

I shook my head, biting back a wince and stared firmly at Hunter. "I. Am. Fine." I bit out with my own glare.

Blake laughed again when Hunter let out another series of growls and I turned to him with a nod. "Don't tell me, I know... That's his way of grumbling to himself, right?"

Remember, I'm Dragon Clan, too, and have had my fair share of grumble moments.

He nodded and laughed some more as he turned and left the room, leaving me with Sir Grumbles-a-lot.

Turning back to Hunter, I couldn't help but giggle as he let his head sag, shaking it as he fluttered over to a table, still grumbling.

(In Space, Normal POV)

"Well? What did you want to tell me that's so important?!" Lothor bellowed as he stared at his neices. _Incompetant fools!_

Marah nudged Kapri, who nudged her back even harder and pushed her forward. Offering a nervous smile to him, Marah shifted a little. "Well, Uncle, you see... Uh..." She turned and pulled Kapri in front of her. "You tell him!" she hissed.

Glaring at her sister, Kapri turned and smiled at Lothor, cringing under his impatient look. "Uh, well, when we attacked the new girl, this little, red, baby dragon got in the way, and, umm..."

"A little baby dragon..." he stated incredulously. "Amazing! Not only can six kids in colored spandex beat you, but _baby_ dragons, too!"

"No, no! You don't understand!" Marah cried pleadingly. "When the Power Rangers showed up-"

"Were you beaten by a dragon or the Power Rangers?!" Lothor yelled angrily. "Make up your minds!"

"Well, we blasted the dragon and hurt it..."

"_I_ blasted the dragon!" Kapri corrected smugly. "And then the Power Rangers showed up, and the Navy Ranger raced right past us to the dragon and the dragon girl with the white wings."

"So, they're connected, or something." Marah offered weakly, glaring at her sister. "And I heard the Navy Ranger call the dragon 'Hunter'."

Lothor's eyes widened at this and he leaned forward in his seat. "Isn't that the name of the foolish older brother?" he asked curiously. "Hmmm... This is interesting." he admitted reluctantly. "What else did you find out?"

The girls exchanged a pleased look and Kapri stepped forward. "Well, the girl seemed able to hide her wings, and could heal, I think, but she didn't seem too good at it."

"And the dragon was weak. Not strong like the other Rangers." Marah added excitedly.

At this point, Zurgane stepped forward. "Sir, I believe I may know what's going on. In a nearby galaxy, there is a planet with people on it called Windians. They have bird-like wings and can usually use magic."

"Then they aren't the ones I'm looking for, are they? I'm looking for the dragon people." Lothor spat.

Zurgane nodded. "Ah, yes, but they also had rumors of a clan of people known as the Dragon Clan, who vanished off their planet generations ago. It is said the clan went to another planet..."

Nodding a little, Lothor glanced in his direction. "And you believe this girl, and the blonde brat might be Dragon Clan? What weaknesses do they have?" he asked as he glared evilly at the viewing screen. _This might be the advantage we need to get rid of those Power pukes once and for all._

"Well, they have a weakness time when they transform into baby dragons, I believe." the top general mumbled quietly. Then he snapped his fingers. "They are weak against ice, or cold weather!"

Lothor grinned, then he began to laugh. "Then get me an ice monster to take care of them!" he ordered as he cackled in his seat. "Finally, it'll be the end of those punks!"

Looking to Kapri, Marah frowned. "Uncle likes to talk to himself a lot, doesn't he?" she whispered as they retreated from the bridge.

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Here's another chapter for you all. :)

I swear, it's a total coincidence that it's so close to christmas and I chose an ice monster like this! I swear it! (Bows) LOL

Hope you like it.

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"Hey! Be nice!" I scolded. "Or, _you_ don't get any ice cream!"

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	15. Chapter 15

**GinaStar** - Of course! That's Hunter for you. LOL. I'm actually going to try working on a (hopefully) cute scene between the three dragons.

**Purple SPD Ranger** - Well, I hope to, if my computer stays with me. :) I'm glad you like it so far.

**pinklen98** - It would've been so adorable. If I won the lottery, I'd probably make all kinds of movies, if I could get the same actors to take up their roles once again.

**Mrs.Quincy25** - Oh well, you were right, anyway. LOL. I didn't realize it until after I had the scene written, how much ice and snow... (Shakes head) I think winter's getting to me... LOL

**dragons in our midst** - That's a very good description, but I won't be able to use her. If you'd like to, you could make a side story that focuses on Cam and her. It's just that I'm having a fun time keeping track of my two OCs and the current relationships as it is. Blake and Tori's is developing, but I still have Dustin/Taelin and Hunter/Angie to work on.

Plus, my top three favorite Rangers are Hunter, Dustin and Blake, in that order, and because Cam doesn't fall under my top favorites (Though he is hot and I love the attitude), I don't write that well for him.

No, I was looking more for a plotline, but I have a bit of an idea forming.

Thank you anyway for sending the description in. I might make more Dragon Ranger fics, but I'm going to work on finishing this one, first.

**star-dreamer09** - Yeah, Dustin's easy going and such a goof. Ticking him just seemed to come out of nowhere. LOL I'm glad you're liking it so far. :)

**JuseaPeterson** - I'm glad you enjoyed that. Yeah, since Hunter can't talk, he needs to find other ways to communicate. I'm trying to focus a litte more on the battles, and on the pairings, so...

Much more sappy fluff and cute moments ahead! Yay! Oh, oh, OH! I got an ADORABLE idea in my head, that I reaaaallly want to write down... Hmmm... (Runs off to post most recent chapters and begin writing the next)

Thank you everyone who reviewed. (Looks around) Now, where'd I put my Crimson teddy bear? (Pulls out a stuffed golden teddy bear with a Crimson Ranger uniform on, holding a blaster.) Enjoy the next chapter!

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(Next Day, at the Park, Hunter's POV)

"Man, I _never_ wanna go through that again!" I groaned, rubbing my arms and looking around the almost deserted park. "I'm so glad to be back to normal."

"Or, as normal as a Dragon Clan, Ninja Ranger can get." Angie quipped quietly.

Blake snickered a moment and shook his head. "Bro, I think it's safe to say our lives are about as far from normal as humanly possible." he stated, patting me on the shoulder. Then he turned to the other side and poked Tori in the side, resulting in a yelp and mock glare before she poked him back.

"Children, chilren..." Angie grinned. "Be nice or you don't get any ice cream!"

His jaw dropped and Blake folded his hands neatly in his lap. "I'm sorry." he stated with a chuckle. "I'll be good, I promise!"

Tori busted up laughing and poked him in the side again, causing him to turn and pout at her before he leaned in and stole a kiss, tickling her viscously when she was distracted.

"Oh, come on!" I called with a fake glare in their direction, biting my lip to keep from laughing. "Get a room, you two!"

Blake turned and swatted my arm, and Tori lashed out with her foot, kicking me in the shin.

"Ouch! Hey!" I cried, rubbing my shin and leaning against the tree.

To be honest, this was kind of nice. Taelin was learning a little martial arts from Dustin and Shane, Cam was working on some new upgrade for the zords, and we were here, relaxing in the park. It was a clear, sunny day out, and Blake was on one side of me, with Tori on his other side, and Angie was on my other side, surrounding a tree.

It was definitely nice to be back in human form, and to be allowed out of Ops.

"Serves you right." Tori grumbled with a blush, biting her lip as she looked at the ground.

"I'm surrounded by kids." Angie groaned with a grin.

Raising my eyebrow, I reached over and poked her. "Hey! Be nice!" I scolded. "Or, _you_ don't get any ice cream!"

Suddenly, Angie jerked and squealed loudly as she squirmed. Looking over in confusion, and I reluctantly admitted, a little worry, I relaxed when I realized it was Tori and Blake, having snuck up on her and were poking and tickling her sides.

"Stop!" she cried as she giggled violently, leaning forward and holding her side. "I'm sorry!' she giggled out.

I couldn't help but grin as she squirmed under their tickles. Then she fell over sideways, into my lap, and I felt my face heat up as she curled up in a ball, taking a deep breath and relaxing as Blake and Tori stopped poking at her.

"You guys are so mean!" she cried in mock hurt as she laid panting on my leg.

Angie's eyes suddenly flew open, wide, and she shot up into a standing position. For a moment, I thought it was from her figuring out that her face was in my lap, but then I noted how her eyes were narrowed and she was looking around the park wildly.

With a frown, I hopped up beside her and touched her arm lightly, looking around and feeling the hair on the back of my neck stand up as I sensed a dark presence nearby. _Something's..._

_**I know.**_came Blake's grim thought as he pulled Tori closer to him, his eyes glowing a little. _**Something dark is coming.**_

Dark. A good way to explain it. If I had to relate a color to the dark aura I was sensing, I'd say black. But what was weird was that it also seemed...cold.

"We have to run." Angie said quietly, her eyes open wide in unconcealed terror. "It's an ice monster!"

"Ice monster?" I repeated in confusion.

All of a sudden, the temperature seemed to drop, and it began to snow. I immediately felt the difference and shivered violently as I stepped closer to the others. It only hit me then that I could sense the heat from Blake, Tori and Angie, and I guessed that this was the dragon's senses picking up, since they were drawn to heat.

_**Cold**_Blake's mind grumbled almost predatorily.

I looked at him and watched as he pulled Tori closer, almost burying his face in her neck.

_**I don't like the cold.**_

_Me, either, bro._ I thought with a shiver. I briefly wondered why he was feeling it more than me, but then it hit me that I was wearing a long sleeved shirt and he was wearing a t-shirt. _That explains it._

Blake shot me a raised eyebrow and I made a face at him before turning to Angie. "Yeah, ok, getting outta here sounds good about now."

We turned to run and I felt my eyes go wide to find a solid wall of ice behind us. Then my eyes narrowed as I looked up, only to widen again when I saw that the wall was at least 10 feet high and wide, and too thick to break through.

"Guys...?" came Angie's shaky voice, and I turned immediately, noticing her shivering a little.

Then again, shorts and a t-shirt aren't usually very warm.

I followed her gaze to find there was another ice wall behind us. My ears picked up the sound of tinkling, like snow makes when it brushes against buildings, and looked to our left to find another wall quickly freezing and blocking our path out, that way.

"Run!" I yelled as panic set in. I could feel my dragon senses picking up, and turned to our right, only to find that we were blocked in that way, too. "Where'd these walls come from?" My breathing was becoming shorter as I looked around, trying to find a way out. _They just appeared outta nowhere!_

Blake ran to one of the walls and pounded on it, only to pull back with a hiss. "Cold." he groaned a little, his eyes glowing brighter.

_Cold? No, it's more like freezing!_ I thought as I shivered. I sensed a minor energy pulse and frowned as I turned, blinking a moment as I watched Angie spread her newly visible wings and lifted off. She flew up quite a ways, but out of seemingly nowhere, a blast of snow hit her and she fell, landing on her feet, but quickly falling to her knees.

"Angie!"

I raced to her side, only to find her shivering uncontrollably, and her eyes were glowing white.

"We have to..." She looked around in clear panic. "We have to get outta here before we freeze!"

"Hah! You're not going anywhere!"

We all spun to find a giant snow man-looking monster with really sharp looking fangs as he raised it's arms and blasted the top of the closed in area, immediately forming a thick wall of ice as the ceiling.

"Three little Dragon Clans, and a regular Water Ranger, too. Nothing you can do to escape." he taunted.

_**Elements...**_

I turned to Blake who seemed to be thinking about it. "What about elements?"

He frowned._** Tori's water. Me, I'm thunder and ice...**_ "Hunter, you're fire!" he cried as his eyes lit up. "You can melt the ice!"

"Try it, Ranger, and you'll cause the whole ice box to cave in on all of you!" the snow man monster gloated. "Well, I'm off to 'chill'. I'll be back to check up on my Ranger-cicles later." Vanishing in a poof of snow, he left us, slowly freezing.

And if it wasn't bad enough, it began to snow in the box, making it even colder.

"Stupid monster." Angie grumbled. She sat down abruptly and frowned as she folded her arms around her stomach and shivered.

Looking around again, I watched as Blake tried to get a hold of the others via his morpher, but the signal was jammed. _Wait.._ "Blake, Tori, let's try morphing!"

They nodded and we got into position.

"Ninja Storm!" Tori called, raising her hand to the sky.

"Thunder Storm!" Blake and I called, throwing our hands towards the ground.

"Ranger Form! Ha!" we finished together, hitting the buttons on our morphers.

Nothing happened.

"They must be jamming our powers from working." Tori stated as she shivered slightly.

I turned back to Angie, and walked over to her, sitting behind her and wrapping my arms around her waist. "Then we gotta find a way to stay warm until the others come and get us outta here." I felt Angie tense up for a few moments and was about to question what was wrong, but I caught a glance of her face and noticed that her cheeks were red. Then, she relaxed and settled back into my hold._ Is she embarrassed or something?_

Blake copied me with Tori, but pulled her more into his lap and held her even tighter as he shivered. He winked and grinned at me from behind the said water Ninja. _**Probably. It's pretty obvious she likes you.**_

I felt my own face heating up and was about to deny it when I recalled what she said to me in dragon form, about me being 'cute'.

He seemed to pick up on that as well and his grin grew. _**See?**_

_Shut it._ I though to him with a glare, raising my own eyebrow. _And get outta my head!_

Shaking a bit, from with-held laughter, Blake stuck his tongue out behind Tori's head. _**Make me.**_

"Blake!" I yelled, wincing as Angie jumped and spun to glare at me. "Sorry." I muttered sheepishly. _Now's not the time for this._ I grumbled mentally to my brother.

He just shrugged. _**Got your mind off the cold, for a little while.**_ he stated indifferently, nuzzling his face into Tori's neck, making her blush deeply. _**Warm...**_

_I bet._ I thought with a grin, carefully blocking off my end of the link to keep Blake from commenting. Shivering again, I tightened my hold on Angie's waist as I looked around. Already, I could feel like my energy was draining, and I could see Blake's eyes drooping. Looking at Angie, I noticed her eyes were barely open and realized she was colder than all of us, probably due to the shorts and getting hit by a blast of ice energy. _Come on guys..._

(Back at Ops, Taelin's POV)

Punch, block, kick, block. Not a hard combination to remember, and at least they were taking it easy on me.

Shane and Dustin were teaching me to defend myself. Apparently, I could use magic, but Cam left the choice of learning it up to me and I kind of liked being somewhat normal, so that wasn't at the top of my list of priorities. So instead, he asked them to teach me basic self-defense.

_Block._ I thought in concentration as Shane sent a punch towards me. _And counter, kick!_ I kicked up high and he had to move quickly to block my leg from hitting him in the hip.

Ok, so I'm not that flexible and can't kick at head height yet. At least I'm making _some_ progress, right?

"Great job, Tae!" Dustin called from the sidelines.

I felt my face heating up as I blocked one of Shane's kicks and countered with a punch. "Thanks!" I called lightly, ducking under another punch. _Wait..._ "Stop!"

Freezing in mid-step to aim a punch at me, Shane frowned in confusion and Dustin jogged over, as I remained crouched down low and closed my eyes.

_Why do I feel so cold?_ I thought in confusion. It was weird, but I had this foreboding sense that Hunter, Blake and the others were in trouble. I was actually about to open my mouth and say it when I heard Shane's morpher beep and opened my eyes as he answered it.

"Go for Shane."

"Shane, it's Cam. Listen, the others are in serious danger in the park. Get there _now_!" he ordered in a clearly worried voice.

"Got it!" Shane called. "Sorry Tae, but-"

"I know." I cut him off. "Hurry." Was all I said as I turned and stared at Dustin for a moment. Giving a small smile, I turned past him and towards Ops. I couldn't ninja streak, but Cam made sure the guys kept away from the woods for a while, so we were nearby.

As I found the opening to Ops, I turned and saw that the guys were gone. With a frown, I turned back and hurried down the steps. _Good luck, guys._

When I reachd the room, I stopped a moment and stared in horror at the screen. There, in a large, fairly unstable-looking ice box, were Hunter, Blake, Angie and Tori. They were sitting in a close circle in the center of the box, in about three inches of snow.

"That explains why I felt cold." I muttered as I walked closer.

Angie was shivering violently and was leaning in Hunter's embrace, her eyes closed tightly and her wings constantly shuffling, glowing slightly to show how weak she was. Hunter was shivering as well, but not as bad, and his eyes were half open, glowing a bright crimson, along with his own wings, which were wrapped around himself and Angie, to provide _some_ warmth.

Tori seemed the least affected of them all, but in her grasp, she held a small navy dragon that seemed to be unconscious.

"That's really not good." I stated with a worried frown as I stood behind Cam. "The cold drains them. If they transform, it's that much worse on them, and they're really weak by that point."

Turning his head, Cam frowned a moment. Then he turned back to the computer and narrowed his eyes as he typed on the keyboard. "Their communicators are jammed." Hitting a button, he stared intently at the screen. "Shane, if you can hear me, you better hurry! I don't know how much longer they can last!"

The screen changed to show him and Dustin facing off against a large white snowman with a gaping hole with jagged teeth for it's mouth and haunting black eyes. Looking into his morpher, Shane's irritation was clear. "We're a little busy at the moment. Any help you can give would be appreciated." he stated pointedly.

"Got it. I'm on my way." Cam stood quickly, hitting another button that activated Cyber Cam. "Take over for me." He ordered his computerized clone. Turning his back to us, he pulled off the amulet he wore around his neck, pausing as it grew to the size of a softball in his hand.

"Samurai Storm! Ranger Form! HA!" he called, morphing into the Green Samurai Ranger.

With a final nod to us, he turned and streaked out of Ops, leaving me behind with Cy, watching worriedly over the others.

"Come on..." I chanted quietly as i watched Angie transform into a tiny white dragon in Hunter's arms. "Hurry, guys."

He held her tighter, curling up against Tori as he shivered even more violently, already noticing the lack of warmth in front of him, where she'd been sitting. In response, Tori wrapped an arm losely around his shoulder, with a look of worry etched into her face. She hoisted Blake higher against her chest, so that his face was buried against her neck, and Hunter rested his head on her shoulder.

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Yeah, I definitely think winter is getting to me. LOL. Everything is coming out cold or reminding me of how cold I am. LOL.

Just a note, chances are I won't have a girl for Shane or Cam. They are not my most favorite characters, so I won't likely focus too much on them, and if I do, I'm not good with their characters, so writing in pairings would be fun. If anyone else has ideas and wants to use the dragon forms and such for fics, with pairing ideas and such, feel more than free to do as you like. Just let me know so I can read them:) LOL

Hope you like it.

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"Don't mess with my family or your butt is toast!"

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi.


	16. Chapter 16

**Note** - Until I get the next chapter up, I will take some ideas for Truth or Dare suggestions. I wasn't sure before, but I am going to use it.

Setting - Blake and Hunter's apartment with everyone but Sensei.

Remember, Rating - no swearing or descriptive nudity and such.

Also, keep in mind the pairings, and that Dustin/Taelin, Hunter/Angie are not officially together, yet.

I want to keep them mostly in character.

So please, no having Hunter acting like a hyper little girl, or singing girly songs or anything. LOL. No Blake smooching Taelin or Angie. No Dustin smooching Hunter (sorry :( )

Otherwise, I'm open to ideas for embarrassing them all and such.

Thank you to all who sent in ideas and comments. It's greatly appreciated.

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(Tori's POV)

The others were nearby, but things really weren't looking good. I was almost numb from the cold, Angie and Blake had already transformed and Hunter was close to it, I could tell.

And it didn't look like the others would be getting to us any time soon. They were fighting the frosty freak Lothor'd sent down, and were taking a beating on their own.

Even after Cam arrived to help.

"We _have_ to get outta here." I said quietly, looking around the ice box. _No matter how bad it might seem, there's just gotta be a way._ I looked to the so called 'ceiling' and realized it was really unsteady, but since it was ice... "Hunter!"

Turning to the Crimson Thunder Ninja, I frowned to find his eyes closed, and he was leaning on me heavier than he needed to. Nudging him, I shook my shoulder ,watching as his body shook and he slowly opened his eyes.

"Hunter!"

His body jerked and he lifted his head off my shoulder with obvious difficulty, turning to look at me with glowing crimson eyes.

"I have an idea on how to get outta here, but I'm gonna need your help!" I told him hurriedly. "The roof of this box is unsteady, but using my water powers, I should be able to freeze it to the walls better, making it safer for you to melt a hole in one of the walls."

His head slowly turned and he looked at the walls with a frown, unconsciously raising Angie higher and nodding as his eyes settled on the ceiling. "We've got..." He shivered violently and his wings jerked a little before folding against his back. "We've got nothing to lose."

I stood up quickly, reluctantly placing Blake in Hunter's lap, watching as he carefully picked up his little brother and held him along with Angie. Turning back to the wall, I looked up and focused on my inner water powers, seeing as there was no unfrozen water nearby. _Ok, here goes..._ Raising my hands, I focused intently and my eyes flew open as I felt the power in me surge forward. "Power of Water!"

A large stream of water erupted from my hands and flew towards the edges of the ice roof, freezing immediately upon contact and creating a seal that would, hopefully, hold it up better. It took a good portion of my powers, and I felt dizzy by the time I was done, but I turned back to Hunter, nodding a little and kneeling down to carefully take Blake and Angie from him. Then I had to hold still as he braced himself on me and we stood up together.

"My turn, huh?" he asked with a wince, taking a shaky step forward. Frowning a little, he raised his hand to the wall in front of us, searching it with his eyes for a moment before aiming a little to the left. "Power of Fire!" he called, tapping into his dragon powers.

An inferno surrounded him, focusing in his hand and releasing as a stream of fire, hitting th wall and melting through it in seconds. Still, he needed to widen the hole so we could climb out, and I could easily tell he was close to passing out.

"Just a little bit longer, Hunter!" I called, adjusting my hold on the two unconscious dragons in my arms. _You can do it!_

His eyes narrowed as he broke out in a sweat, and he moved his arm a bit higher, making the hole big enough for us to escape through. Once he was done, he staggered back and I quickly moved forward as the crimson mist appeared, causing him to transform.

I felt four sets of claws landing lightly on my shoulder before a heavy weight collapsed, and quickly ran through the opening, moving a safe distance away and placing Blake and Angie down, carefully picking up Hunter and placing him next to them as I turned back to the snowman monster.

"Ok, it's time for him to pay." I all but growled as I stalked over to the others. _No one picks on my friends! Especially Blake!_ Raising my hand to the sky, I focused on a nearby fountain and concentrated on the monster. "Power of Water!" I called again, streaming the warm water at the monster and watching in satisfaction as it began to melt.

"Hey! Hey! Stop that!" he cried as he writhed under the water. "No! I'm melting!"

_That's what you get..._ I tapped my morpher. "Ninja Storm! Ranger Form! HA!" Once I was morphed, I joined the others in fighting this thing. I streamed more warm water at it as Dustin and Shane ran forward, slicing at it with their ninja swords. Cam stood a safe distance away and kept an eye on the battle, racing forward to keep the monster distracted as Shane and Dustin backed off to regroup.

With the four of us, it didn't take long to beat him. We watched as he collapsed to the ground, repeatedly groaning about melting, and exploded into nothing. Once he was gone, I spun and ran back to where I'd left the Dragons, stopping and staring in awe at the sight that met me.

Dragon Blake was curled up close to Hunter's back, on one side of him, his little sapphire snout buried against a ruby back. And Angie was curled against Hunter's front, her snout buried against his throat. Hunter was curled around Angie, but his tail was wrapped with Blake's and his head was tilted down over the little white dragon, his little fore claws resting over hers.

Biting my lip, I felt bad as I lifted Blake in my arms, hearing him giving a weak, protesting squeak before he settled against me.

"Dude, they're so cute!" Dustin cooed with a chuckle, carefully lifting Angie as Shane picked up Hunter.

"We should get them back to Ops, to make sure they're ok." Cam stated sternly, his voice wavering and showing his amusement. "They _were_ in that box for a long time."

I nodded quietly, absently stroking the top of Blake's head and feeling him curl in against me more. "Cam's right." I stated lightly, blushing when the others pointedly stared at my hand. I adjusted my hold on Blake and turned away, heading towards Ops.

I could hear Dustin snickering, but there was almost a slight roar, like the roar you would hear from a pile of falling snow, or maybe a roaring fire, and he suddenly yelped, making me spin around.

Hunter had one eye half open and was staring at Dustin pointedly from Shane's arms, his nostrils steaming a bit. It only took me a second to figure out what happened and I couldn't help but laugh.

The said Earth Ninja was shaking his hand, Angie laying on his shoulder. "Dude, that hurt!"

Shane chuckled. "I think it was supposed to." he stated pointedly, turning and joining me.

Cam laughed a little as he joined us as well, leaving Dustin to race after us, carefully, so as to not drop Angie.

_I guess the age old myth is true, then._ I thought with a giggle, shaking my head. _Dragons _do_ breathe fire._

(Ops, Taelin's POV)

I was so relieved when the others came back from the battle only a little bruised. The Dragons were really cold, but Cam set them in a room together, where they immediately curled up together, and told us they'd be fine. They just needed to warm up and rest.

This time, Angie was between the brothers, and Hunter curled up against her back, his neck stretching across hers and one of his fore claws reaching over to Blake, on her other side. Blake curled into her front, his face buried under her neck and Hunter's head, and his claws folded tightly against his little body, his tail curling around Angie and Hunter.

Luckily, other than Dustin suffering mild burns to hand, the others were fine.

"Dude, what'd I do?" he asked with a clueless look while Cam bandaged his hand and held an ice pack to it, making him wince. "I was laughing about how Tori was petting Blake on the head, and the next thing I know, my hand was in the middle of a ball of fire!"

"That's probably why." I said quietly, ducking my head a little as everyone turned in my direction. "I mean, you were laughing at Tori and Blake. Blake's Hunter's little brother, and Tori's his, Blake's, girlfriend..."

Tori bit her lip and looked down with a blush, brushing a lock of her hair behind her ear.

"And Hunter's really protective of his brother..." I continued. "That was probably his way of giving you a warning."

"Yeah." Shane snickered. "Don't mess with my family or your butt is toast!"

I couldn't help but giggle at that, but on the inside, I was just glad they were all ok.

"Hey, Shane..." Tori gave him an evil look. "Since Cam's probably glued to his computer chair..."

She ignored the pointed glare she got from him for that comment.

"Why don't you come with me and keep an eye on the dragons?" she finished with a raised eyebrow.

It was just a question, but even I could tell, from her expression, that there was more to it than that. It made my face heat up as he quickly nodded and followed her into the back room, leaving me and Dustin alone in the main room, but for Cam.

Even Sensei had gone out to meditate in the forest, earlier.

"Dustin, if your hand's feeling better, do you mind finishing Taelin's training?" Cam asked without turning away from the computer.

He made a face at the bandage before shrugging and nodding, the low light hiding a lot of his expression. "Sure."

Looking to the ground, I turned and headed up the stairs, not really sure what to make of his answer. I stopped a moment, sure I heard someone calling my name, very quietly, and turned to find Tori standing at the edge of the hallway, alone.

Glancing quickly to Dustin, I saw him slowly walking towards me, poking at his bandages, and looked back to see Tori mouthing 'now's your chance'.

That made me blink a moment as I stared at her blankly. _Now's my chance? Now's my chance for what?_ Realizing what she was talking about, I felt my eyes widen and stared at her incredulously. Shaking my head quickly, I turned and headed up the stairs, waiting at the entrance to Ops, for Dustin.

_'Now's my chance'?! Is she crazy?! I can't just tell Dustin how I feel!_

"Tae, you in there?"

I felt a light tapping on my head and spun to find Dustin staring at me.

"I was saying we should, like, probably head over to the woods, or Cam'll like, probably throw a fit if we make too much noise." he said lightly with a shrug, gesturing to the edge of the woods.

"Right." I stated with a cheery grin, trying to push Tori's words out of my head. "Lead the way!"

He raised an eyebrow a moment before nodding and leading the way.

_Besides, exactly _how_ am I supposed to tell him?? I can't just walk up to him and say 'Yeah, hi. I'm totally head over heels in love with you.'!_ I could always just walk up to him and kiss him. But I'd never kissed anyone before, and I felt all kinds of questions bubble up.

"Uh, Dustin...?" _What am I doing?!_ I grinned weakly when he turned to face me and looked into his eyes.

Big mistake.

Immediately I felt like I was getting lost in them and forced myself to look away. Opening my mouth to say something, I felt like my throat closed up and sighed. "Never mind." I muttered quietly.

"You ok, Tae?" he asked, a worried frown coming over his face.

I nodded and forced a smile. "Yeah." _I wish._ "I'm fine."

(Two Days Later)

"I still can't believe you didn't tell him." Tori stated in disappointment.

Angie raised an eyebrow and giggled with a shake of her head. "You do realize that Hunter would have your head for encouraging her like this, and Blake would be torn between protecting you and cheering for his brother, right?"

Blinking a moment, Tori's one eyebrow slowly rose and she nodded with her lips pursed. "Yeah, you know, I didn't even think of that." She stated with a blush. "But they have to realize she's an adult."

"She's their 'little sister'." Angie stated pointedly.

"And Hunter's way too over-protective of me." I said with a nod, thankful the topic was currently off me and Dustin.

Ever since that day, when I'd failed to tell him, Tori's been going on about the different ways to broach the subject and such. When I mentioned never having kissed a guy before, she told me to just 'go with the flow', whatever that meant.

"Besides, look at you and Blake." Angie stated with a grin, pointing in Tori's face. "_How_ long did it take you guys to _finally_ kiss?? And _he_ had to kiss _you_."

"Yeah!" Jumping in quickly, before Tori could retaliate, I added my own two cents. "So maybe, if I'm patient, Dustin will be the one to kiss me first." I blushed at having said all that out loud, even if it was just to the two of them.

"Blake knew I liked him." she said, pointing back into Angie's face, after having swatted her hand out of the way. "And Dustin doesn't know about Tae's feelings." Then she raised an eyebrow. "And you shouldn't be one to give advice. You and Hunter still have a long-"

"Don't!" Angie frowned deeply. "That's not what we're talking about."

I knew there was more to it than that. She never wanted to talk about her and Hunter, even though everyone knew there was..._something_ there. Especially since the thing with the ice box. Hunter's been a lot nicer to her since then.

By no way was he on his knees, proposing, but he was at least treating her more like an equal, like the rest of the group.

"What's going on with you two?" I finally asked, after a couple minutes of silence. "I mean, it's obvious there's something there, but you always shoot the topic down right before we can even start it. Why? What's wrong?"

Frowning, Angie looked at the bed we all sat on, and I was glad for the day to relax. It was obvious there was something really bothering her, but what it was... Was it Hunter's attitude? Because I know he could be confusing at times.

"Come on, Ang. Talk to us." Tori stated quietly.

She didn't look up from the bed, but frowned deeper. "Well, I don't really know. I don't know how to feel or what to think. Ever since I came here, so much has happened. I made so many wonderful friends, and I think..." Her eyes watered, but no tears leaked out as she closed them tightly. "I found more people like me."

I know that wasn't what she wanted to say. She changed her statement, last minute.

"When it comes to Hunter..." Her face turned a deep red and she sighed deeply, opening her eyes to allow a single tear to fall, though she quickly wiped it away. "I understand so much of what he feels, and I bet I could understand what he thinks, but I just dunno where I stand with him."

"Where you stand...?" Tori echoed in confusion.

"Does he hate me? Like me? Put up with me for everyone else's sake?" she clarified. "When I first came here, I was convinced he hated me. Now, I dunno what to think."

"You like him, but you don't know if it's mutual." I stated knowingly, understanding her pain. It was the same with me. I liked Dustin, but didn't know if it was mutual, and I was afraid to find out. With Hunter, the results could be more devastating, just because he can be a lot harsher than he really means to, at times.

"Yeah." she said simply, with a small nod. "That's exactly it. I like him, but for all I know, he might just be putting up with me for the sake of everyone else."

"You know he doesn't do too well with making new friends and letting people into his heart." Tori stated knowingly. "He's really afraid of losing them, and once you know the majority of what he's been through, you'll be able to see it. He's also terrified of things between him and Blake changing."

"There's a lot of fear there." I stated, thinking of the two Thunders who'd raised me since I was a baby. "They depend so much on each other. Blake is like stability and sanity to Hunter, and Hunter is like strength to Blake. He's everything to Blake. They're both terrified of losing each other, or their way of life changing."

"Blake's most important to Hunter." Angie stated with a nod. "Family first, always. I know. Taelin is a really close second."

"And Hunter doesn't ever want that to change." Tori finished.

"Does he think I do?" she asked quietly. "I understand, completely, his devotion to his family. I'd never ask him to change."

"No." I frowned and looked at the bed, myself. "I think he's more afraid of things changing on their own. Someone else worming their way up, in his heart, and replacing Blake. He doesn't want that, and I think he's afraid of it happening anyway, even by accident."

"I know that I'll never be number one in Blake's heart." Tori stated with a smile. "And it's ok. I know that I almost tie with Hunter, in importance. He's shown me that. And I don't want to replace his big brother."

I nodded at Tori. "Hunter will see that in time."

"You know, we totally went right off topic." Angie reminded us with a bit of a grin. "We started out talking about Taelin and Dustin."

"Ahh, that's easy enough. We just lock them in a room together and refuse to let them out until they've kissed." Tori stated dismissively.

I think my jaw hit the ground at that moment.

"Or we could always play truth or dare or something and dare Dustin to kiss Taelin." Angie stated thoughtfully.

"He might refuse."

She nodded. "Well, if he refuses, we just ask him if he likes her as more than a friend. He can either kiss her or admit his feelings for her."

If it was even possible, I think my jaw fell even further. "GUYS!!" I yelled, grabbing a pillow and swatting them both with it. "Not fair! Leave me alone!"

Angie and Tori broke out laughing before launching themselves at me and knocking all of us right off the other end of the bed, to land on the floor in one big heap.

_With friends like these, who needs enemies?!_

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Ok, another chapter done. Hmm...me thinks this fic is going to be much longer than I thought, but I hope to keep it under 50 chapters. LOL!!

I hopefully, plan to have a fairly cute chapter after this. Ever watch sheep or other four-legged animals play? If not, check it out on youtube so you can get a better idea of what I'll be going for.

Hope you liked it.

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"They're playing."

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	17. Chapter 17

**dragons in our midst** - Well, I wish you good luck. ;) I have a list of stories I've started that got about 50 on it, so I'll be writing until I am old and grey. LOL. And the ideas just seem to keep comng! LOL. I'd still ove to read it, though, if you get it up. :)

I really need to see about creating a forum to post those ideas so that if someone else wants to try them, they can feel free... (Ponders before running back to the facebook chat system) ...Later. I'll do it later. LOL

SHORT chapter. Read. (Giggles) Please, just...read. (Laughs)

This is short but I wanted to make it it's own chapter. (Snickers) If you have imaginations half as active as mine, then good luck trying not to laugh (Shakes head and giggles madly). (giggles evilly) Because I literally almost fell out of my chair while writing this, I was laughing so hard at the image.

NEXT chapter will be the truth or dare, so please send in your ideas. All ideas are taken into consideration until the next chapter is posted, and each idea will be credited to who sent it in. LOL.

I'm just totally clueless as to what to make them do in this game. LOL.

(In announcer-like voice) GET READY TO GIIIIIGGGGGGLLLLLEEE! (Busts up laughing) Sorry... I'm just feeling really random and hyper right now. (laughs)

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(Next Evening, Normal POV))

"Awww!" Angie cooed, watching as dragon Hunter jumped and flipped before racing after dragon Blake, who jumped three times sideways before wriggling and taking off. "That's so cuuuute!" She knew Hunter wouldn't like the cooing, but she just couldn't help it. It was one of those absolutely adorable moments that you just _had_ to say _something_!

Spinning on his heel, Hunter glared at her darkly before shaking his head and turning, jumping sideways with all four paws at the same time, towards Blake.

Tori was giggling madly and Dustin and Shane were on the floor in hysterics. They were literally crying, they were laughing so hard, and struggling to breathe at the same time. But then Blake jumped and they were sent into hysterics again.

"Should I be worried?" Cam asked warily as Blake raced between his legs before doing a flip and jumping some more around the room. Sensei Watanabi was silent, but was obviously trying not to laugh as the two Thunder Rangers raced around like children.

Taelin fell against Tori, holding her stomach from laughing so hard.

Shaking her head, Angie giggled some more, wiping tears out of her eyes. "N-No... They're..." she laughed some more as Hunter tried to jump on Blake, but at the last moment, the little sapphire dragon scrabbled out of the way and Hunter landed in a heap on the floor, instead. "They're playing."

Tori finally managed to take a deep breath and slowly straightened up. "Then what's with the glare from Hunter?" she asked in confusion, yelping and ducking as a little navy dragon sailed through the air, right towards her, a little ruby dragon right behind him. That sent her into another fit of giggles. "God, I wish I had a camera right about now!"

"Well, they can't really help it." Angie explained with a blush as she ducked under the two dragons as well, giving a startled squeal when Hunter grabbed hold of her hair and stared at her with sparkling eyes as he tugged a bit, before he squeaked and took off, stumbling as he failed to realize his claws got stuck in her hair. "Ow, hey!"

"Can't help it." Cam repeated in a monotone, glaring at Blake when he flew towards the super computer.

The little dragon quickly turned and sailed over to the habitat, landing on it and jumping down before hopping sideways again and racing around.

"No, it's the dragon blood in them. They have a lot of pent up energy and the dragon parts of them wanna play." she explained, having finally untangled Hunter from her hair. "And remind me to start wearing my hair in a braid or something." she grumbled a bit, pushing the tangled mess out of her face.

Hunter ducked his head sheepishly before turning back to Blake and his eyes narrowed. Giving another squeak, he took off at fully speed, racing right towards the navy dragon.

...Only to do a face plant into the wall when Blake ducked out of the way.

Shane had tear trails down his face, he was laughing so hard and Dustin winced in sympathy before shaking his head. He laughed too, but was obviously trying not to.

Taelin's jaw dropped and she winced as well, before giggling and turning to Angie. "Then why aren't you playing with them?"

Angie seemed to sober up immediately before offering a shrug. "Well, I don't feel the same need to, right now." she stated quietly.

"I think Hunter wants you to." Tori put in with a smug grin. "After all, wasn't he just tugging at your hair?"

"He's playing like a dragon, right now." she pointed out. "In other words, flying, jumping and racing around, and probably tugging on my hair because he could." She raised an eyebrow. "Watch out for your own hair." she stated with a grin.

Hunter squeaked and raced over, jumping onto and clutching at Angie's leg as he looked up at her.

"Oh my gosh! That's so adorable!" Taelin cooed as she giggled.

Tori yelped in surprise as Blake landed on her shoulder and burrowed his face into her hair, rubbing his cheek against her neck. "Blake!" she whined with a laugh.

"Yeah, Ang..." Shane stated as he panted heavily for breath. "I think they want you to join them."

She opened her mouth to say something when a loud, blaring alarm was heard and everyone turned to the computer. Hunter and Blake squeaked loudly as the crimson and navy mist formed and they changed back.

Unfortunately, Hunter wasn't really thinking about what he was doing, and when he changed back, he was still clutching Angie's leg tightly. Blinking a moment, he looked around in confusion before looking at the leather-clad leg he was holding.

"Uh, Hunter...?" Dustin began as he began to shake, from trying not to laugh.

Shane nodded with a grin as he, too, shook. "You might wanna..." He broke out laughing and had to cover his mouth when Cam shot him a glare from the computer.

"There's a monster attacking the beach, and you're all laughing at..." Cam began, sounding rather irritated as he turned around. But he stopped in mid-sentence as his eyebrows shot up to find a new home in his hairline. "Hunter..."

Angie's face was a deep cheery red as she gave him a pointed look.

By now, he'd looked up and realized he was sitting with Angie's foot between his legs and his arms wrapped tightly around her upper leg. His own face turned a crimson that would put his uniform to shame as he stared blankly at the brown haired Dragon Clan. "Uh..."

"Hi, to you too." she stated with a look as she tugged on her leg a little. "But, uh...can I have my leg back, please?"

Blake was snickering quietly into Tori's shoulder, seemingly trying not to laugh at his older brother's obvious embarrassment, but at the same time, unable to help it from the totally lost look on Hunter's face. At least he had the fore-thought to jump off her shoulders before transforming back.

"Uh... Oh! Yeah!" Hunter quickly let go of her leg and scooted backwards before jumping into a standing position. Turning to Cam, he gave everyone a warning look. "So. Monster. Beach? Got it." Before anyone could say a word, he turned and streaked off to the battle site.

Angie took her own turn to glare at the girls, pointedly. "Don't. Say. A word." she ground out before stalking into her room and slamming the door.

Tori and Taelin exchanged a look, before they, too, joined the others in laughing.

Even Cam couldn't keep back the smirk as he shook his head and turned back to the computer.

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I wrote that about Hunter because I realized I forgot he was wrapped around Angie's leg, so...

(Giggles) Oh god, I can't stop laughing at the image! LOL.

Hope you liked it.

R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	18. Chapter 18

**JuseaPeterson** - My only worry is that i have NO idea what to do for a dare, but I bet I could think of some if I really had to. LOL. No, I read over that sentence, too, and it bothered me. It just didn't sit right with me, either, but I didn't know how to change it or anything.

I know Angie can't really _understand_. I was thinking more of that she understands why he's as hesitant as he is, when it comes to Blake. That he's really protective of his baby brother, you know? And how he doesn't want his relationship to change.

But I phrased it wrong, I know.

I didn't even realize I was doing a lot of their thoughts in that chapter, but it helped it was Hunter's POV. I know Blake would tease him about Angie, and Hunter would probably still be freaked about the telepathy thing, a little, so...

The thing with Hunter leaning his head on Tori's shoulder was meant to show their friendship and that they're close, you know?

Nope, this is the truth or dare chapter I was talking about. A kissing dare? Hmmm... I don't know. I have an idea though... For the dare, that is. LOL.

I tried to keep the cute moments. I love adding them in, and the playing one was just something that hit me out of nowhere and I couldn't stop giggling about it. LOL I might do more like that, I'm not sure yet. LOL. I finally finished the Truth or Dare chapter, and i hope it's at least somewhat cute. LOL

I know. If Blake hadn't changed back, he'd have been sitting on Tori's shoulders with her head between his legs and his weight would've knocked them both over. Akward? No, that doesn't even begin to cover the mortification they'd suffer... LOL. I was going to have it that Blake didn't think to move, either, and then realized where it'd lead, so...

**pinklen98 **- It's only one story. Besides, I have a couple of Shane fics that I worked on for a friend, so I've done him with someone. I haven't done Cam, though. Maybe I should give that a thought... (Ponders) I had no idea on what to do for Truth or Dares so I had to make some up or get ideas from sites online. Oh, I know. It's just such an adorable image. I wish I could draw half decent and I'd draw pictures. LOL.

**GinaStar** - I couldn't get the image out of my head. LOL. I've seen sheep playing in person, so when I thought back to that, I thought of the boys playing. Oh yeah, and the icebox and snowman monster, I'm owing the idea to you, because I wanted to have a reason for the three of them to turn into dragons and curl up together. LOL. Thanks for the idea.

**Mrs.Quincy25** - I can't help but giggle at the image. I just see him holding little claw-fuls of her hair and tugging on it lightly with such an excited, innocent expression on his face. LOL.

**roxy-blue** - Hey, I'm glad you like it so far. :)

**Daziel** - Thank you for reading and I'm glad you like it. Yeah, I love those moments too. LOL. It helps that I have such a vivid imagination that I can actually see all this happening as if watching it on tv. I have more to come.

Thank you to everyone for reviewing and letting me know what you think. For the Truth or Dares section, there's a 'kiss' dare that is dedicated to **JuseaPeterson** for mentioning it in a review and reminding me to do something between those two. LOL.

Sorry about the wait between updates. My computer is beginning to slow down a lot, seeing as how it's dying. I'm getting a new computer but not for a little while, so I have to make do with this one for now.

Get ready for Hunter/Angie, Tori/Blake and Dustin/Taelin fluff and some laughs (I hope)

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(Blake and Hunter's Apartment, the Next Day, Taelin's POV)

I thought you guys were kidding!" I shouted from the living room as I spoke to Tori and Angie.

Blake and Hunter were in their individual rooms, hiding.

Yes, I said _hiding_.

You see, Tori and Angie dragged me over to my brothers' apartment today, wearing identical smirks, and I knew from that point that it was going to be trouble. The moment Hunter opened the door, he seemed to realize it, too, because his own face paled considerably.

But when they both shouted 'Truth or Dare!' as loud as they could, simultaneously, he and Blake made a b-line to their rooms, slamming and locking the doors.

I tried to take off out the door, but they grabbed my arms and pulled me back.

"Nooo! I don't wanna play!" I shouted in horror as they plopped me down on the couch. "You guys! I thought you were joking!"

"Nope." Tori stated as she plopped down next to me with a grin. "Shane and Dustin are on their way over. We already spoke to them and got them to agree."

That meant they threatened them with something even more humiliating.

_Wait..._

"Shane and Dustin _agreed_?!" I screeched, jumping into a standing position.

Angie sighed loudly and grabbed my hand, without even looking away from the table in front of her, pulling me back into a sitting position. "Yes, they _agreed_. They said they'd play." she explained in a totally calm voice.

"Guys!" I groaned, covering my face with my hands. "Ok, can I go die of embarrassment, now?"

Tori grinned evilly and shook her head before getting up and going to the hallway. "Well, I guess if the guys are gonna hide, we'll just take Taelin, here, to the beach and introduce her to all those half naked, nice men." she stated overly loudly.

She then raised her hand to her face and pointedly looked at her watch, counting with her fingers. One, two, three...

Two doors slammed open and two streaks of light were seen rushing into the room. Blake and Hunter glared at Tori a moment before realizing they'd been had and trying to rush back to their rooms, but Tori blocked their way. Trying to get out the front door, they sighed in defeat to see Angie blocking their way out that way, too.

"Come on, you guys." Tori stated with a smirk, sauntering over to Blake and wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "Taelin, Shane and Dustin are gonna play with us."

Hunter glared darkly at Tori for that but sighed again and plopped on the couch next to me with a reluctant air about him.

Leaning back into Tori's embrace, Blake nodded a little, his own face incredibly wary.

It didn't take long for the others to get here. Shane was glaring quite darkly at Tori, who snickered in response. Dustin looked nervous, and kept an eye on everyone as he sat on the floor, at our newly formed circle, and Cam just sighed heavily, rubbing his eyes as he plopped down in the last spot.

"Let's just get this over with." He grumbled, obviously well beyond annoyed. "Who's first?"

I didn't even _want_ to know how they got him to play!

"Well, since the boys are so obviously scared..." Angie stated with a grin, blatantly ignoring the round of glares she got from everyone. "Let's start off simple and let the girls so first."

Tori nodded and looked at me. "Ok Tae, you first."

"Me?!" I demanded nervously. "I have no idea where to begin!"

"Just pick a thought, randomly, from your mind." Tori stated with a laugh.

_Like that's gonna help._ "I dare Tori and Angie to go home for the day." I stated with my own grin as something came to mind.

They shook their heads with determined looks.

"Well, it was worth a shot." I mumbled, hearing the guys laughing or watching as they grinned a little. _Ok, Tae... Think... Think..._ "Um... Oh!" I snapped my fingers and pointed at Cam.

"Don't forget the rules." Angie interrupted.

Looking around the circle blankly, I shrugged. "What?"

Hunter shook his head and groaned. "You gotta say Truth or Dare first, and let them pick which."

"Oh, yeah." Tilting my head to the side, I looked around the circle, deciding who to begin on. "Cam. Truth or Dare." He should've been a fairly safe bet, I was sure.

"Knowing Cam, he'll choose truth." Tori whispered loudly to Angie, who nodded in response.

The said Samurai's eyes darkened at that and he raised an eyebrow. "Dare." he stated firmly.

I blinked in surprise before grinning a little. "Ok. I dare you to act just like Cyber Cam and refer to everyone who speaks to you, as Bob, for the duration of the game."

Sighing again, he shook his head. "Ok, fine..."

I raised an eyebrow and watched as he seemed embarrassed.

"Ok, ok!" He finally raised his hands. "Alright..._Bob_."

Hunter grinned a little and Blake laughed quietly. Ok, so not one of my best ones, but ths is the first time I ever played the game before!

Folding my arms over my chest, I kept staring silently at him.

"What?"

"Are you forgetting you're supposed to act like Cyber Cam?" Blake reminded him with a bit of a laugh through the sentence.

Covering his face for a moment, he mumbled something incoherently to my ears, and relaxed again. When he opened his eyes, he gave an obviously fake grin and nodded, pointing to me. "You got it, Bob-dude!"

Now nearly everyone in the room either sat there, looking at him in fear at how well he acted like Cy, or they fell over laughing at his impersonation. Even I couldn't help but giggle, and I watched as Hunter scooted away from him nervously, turning his head when he bumped into Angie, and blushing and looking at his lap as he settled down.

_Hmmm..._ I bit my lip hard to keep the evil grin off my face, seeing as I'd just thought up another dare. But still. "Alright, Cam, it's your turn."

He nodded with that fake grin still plastered to his face, an almost murderous look in his eyes. "Alright!" he cheered through gritted teeth. Turning to Tori, his grin turned almost sadistic. "Truth or Dare, T?"

I was going to remind him that he was supposed to call her 'Bob', but he shot me a look, telling me he was fully aware of that, and I thought back to what I'd said about anyone 'who speaks to him' was to be referred to as 'Bob'. _Oh... Yeah..._

She blinked a moment before sliding back a bit. "Uh, I'm gonna play it safe, since I _really _don't trust that look in your eyes." she stated nervously. "Truth."

"Ok, have you and Blake kissed and how was it?" He obviously couldn't wipe the satisfied smirk off his face at their reactions to his bold and unexpected question.

Blake looked thoroughly mortified at the prospect of their first kiss being told to everyone, and Tori's face turned a cherry red.

Looking to the floor, she mumbled something, and Blake turned even redder, ducking his head towards the ground, and Hunter and Angie began to laugh.

"What? What?! I didn't hear her!" I whined, really wanting to know what she said.

She looked up with a cheery red face. "I _said_ we kissed on the beach and it was..." She bit her lip and looked down. "Um..."

"She said it was 'amazing'." Angie told me easily with a grin, ducking a pillow that Tori grabbed off the couch and threw at her.

"_My_ turn!" Tori stated pointedly. "Hunter, Truth or Dare?"

He paused for a moment, seemingly scared to pick either choice. Looking to Blake proved to be no help, since his little brother was busy trying not to laugh out loud in the group. With a sigh, he looked at Tori nervously for a moment.

And... Was it just me, or did his hair frizz up?

"Uh, Hunter?" I asked nervously, watching as his head turned in my direction. I began to giggle, not being able to help it. "Why does it look like you stuck your finger in a lightsocket?"

By now, it almost looked like he had an afro, his hair was so frizzed. Tori began to giggle uncontrollably, and Angie's jaw dropped before she tried futilly to pat it down and laughed. Blake looked confused and poked at his brother's hair a moment before he shot a look at Angie for an answer.

Shane and Dustin almost fell over each other laughing and Cam looked completely intrigued.

I mean, have you ever seen a peeved off cat? Or one that was scared really badly? You know how their hair puffs up? Sometimes, all the way up to the top of the back of their heads?

That's kind of what it looked like. His hair just suddenly seemed to stand up, and nothing was making it go back down.

"He can sense that Tori's got something planned for him. He's royally freaked and suspicious." Angie stated with a confused look at the blonde Water NInja before giggling at Hunter's face as he tried to straighten his hair.

"Well, how would he know? He never picked one." Tori stated defensively, although she had an evil smirk on her face.

"Fine." Hunter stated with gritted teeth, his hair still standing on end. "Tr-" He cut off quickly when Tori's grin grew and his eyes widened. "Dare!"

Snapping her fingers, Tori shrugged. "Hmm...Hunter, I dare you, if anyone asks you to do something, even another dare, you have to answer with 'Would you like fries with that?' before doing it."

Glancing at Cam, Hunter shrugged a little, his hair defrizzing after a second. "Would you like fries with that?" he asked in an indifferent tone. "Shane, Truth or Dare?"

Shane looked around the group. "Man, I'm going with truth here."

He shrugged. "What do you think of Kapri?"

His face turned red as he looked at Hunter in confusion. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"It's just a question and you gotta tell the truth." Hunter pointed out.

Glaring at everyone, he sighed heavily. "Well, other than the fact that she's _working for Lothor_..." he said pointedly. "She's kinda cute." Before anyone could laugh or tease him about what he hsaid, he quickly cleared his throat. "Ok, DUSTIN!" he shouted with the most evil grin I'd ever seen. "This one is for you and Taelin together, really."

I felt my eyes widen. _Oh, no. Did the girls tell him?!_ Shooting a look at them, I noticed their own confused faces and felt even more worried. _Guess not..._

"Actually, it's more for Taelin. Tae, Truth or Dare."

_No matter what I pick, I'm in for it._ Taking a deep breath, and trying to ignore the pounding of my heart, I sighed. "Dare."

"Ok, whatever Dustin does, I dare you to copy him, until he can find something to catch you."

_Huh?_ To be honest, that really didn't sound too bad. Looking to Dustin, I watched him send a confused frown to Shane and knew the game began right away, so... Setting my face to mimic his, I turned to Shane, keeping a watch out of the corner of my eye to see what Dustin did next.

Turning to me in confusion, Dustin blinked and opened his mouth to say something.

Which I quickly copied.

And that made him pause. "Ohhh. Uh, ok." he stated, scratching the back of his head. He finally seemed to understand what Shane meant.

I copied that, too.

The others began to chuckle or laugh, and Dustin blushed deeply as he gave a nervous grin.

Which I copied.

"Uh, dude, like... Do you _have_ to copy _everything_ I do?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Other than speaking, yeah, she does." Shane stated with a laugh as I raised my own eyebrow.

Ok, this was really kind of fun. I actually found myself getting right into it. He leaned forward and stared at me, amusement deep in his brown eyes, and I did the same, blushing when our faces were just maybe an inch apart.

He suddenly jumped into a crouched position, and I followed him, albeit, a little more akwardly.

Openly grinning, he raised his hands like a mime in a box and moved his head back and forth.

I copied him, trying not to laugh.

He stuck his tongue out at me.

I laughed and copied him.

Most of the others were in hysterics by now, excpet for Hunter and Blake, who were grinning while watching the whole thing.

"Dude! I got it!" Dustin cried, raising his hand to the air and snapping his fingers.

I copied him.

He jumped up and began to cluck like a chicken.

Blushing deeply, I shook my head at the others before quickly jumping up and following his example.

He then raised his hands over his head and ran them down his neck, moving down the sides of his torso.

I think my face almost exploded as I copied him._ Oh, god, I don't wanna know!_

Everyone had stopped laughing, and I glanced around to find them all watching intently, wondering what Dustin was going to do to catch me.

He finally grabbed the hem of his shirt and whipped it off, leaving him bare chested.

"Dustin!" I squealed, plopping back down in my spot while laughing, and making sure to leave my shirt on. Eyeing his chest a moment as he sat back down, laughing as well, I couldn't help but like the view.

"Well, I'd say he caught her." Blake stated warningly, keeping an eye on me and Shane.

Hunter nodded seriously, his own face set into a warning.

"Dude, I guess it's my turn, huh?" Dustin asked with a grin as he sat back down, leaving his shirt off. "Uhh..." With a shrug, he looked around the group. "Angie, Truth or Dare?"

Angie paused and seemed to think about it for a moment, really taking in her choices. After looking around the group, she seemed to blush. "Dare..." she stated almost hesitantly.

He looked around again before his eyes settled on Hunter. "Cool. Like, I dare you to sit on Hunter's lap for the rest of the game."

Her eyes widened along with Hunter's and she looked at the others for help, but no one seemed to be able to give any advice. Even me, I wanted her to do it, and hoped that she would. When her eyes connected with mine, I just smiled and nodded my head.

"That, or, like...kiss him." Dustin added. "And no little peck's either!"

Angie's eyes narrowed considerably, and I knew he just set her mind to get him back for that. With a reluctant sigh, she turned and crawled forward on her hands and knees, crawling right up to Hunter. Still, she stared at the ground, obviously unsure of what to pick.

I think we all waited with baited breath as she thought. Even Hunter seemed interested to find out which she'd do, despite the fact that he knew it would be embarrassing.

After a moment, she looked up and stared into his blue eyes before leaning forward and softly pressing her lips to his. He seemed to stiffen up and I was sure he was going to pull away, hurting her in the process, but after a second, his eyes slowly closed and he leaned in as she pulled back, chasing her mouth with his as he kissed her back, fully.

I noticed both their faces turn a dark red, but it didn't stop him from kissing her, or from placing his hand on the back of her head, pulling her closer as he deepened the kiss.

Tori began to cheer loudly, and through my blushing, I followed her lead, knowing they were going to come to me soon enough and wanting a chance to get my laughter in, first.

They seemed reluctant when they finally pulled away, and both quickly looked to the ground as Angie quickly scooted back to her spot, biting her lip a moment.

Then Hunter smirked and stared at me. "Would you like fries with that?"

Everyone began to laugh hysterically at that point, a lot of us falling over and struggling to breathe.

"Ok, Angie's turn!" Tori stated loudly, once she caught her breath.

It still took a couple more minutes for everyone to calm down, though.

Looking back up, Angie seemed to think about it. "Tori, Truth or Dare?"

The blonde Water Ninja shrugged with a grin. "Everyone's been choosing dare, so I'll go with the flow. Dare."

"I dare you to..." she seemed to hesitate for a moment before pursing her lips. "Kiss Blake like you guys kissed on the beach."

Both their faces turned bright red and I raised an eyebrow. "Since when did this become a kissing game?" I questioned quietly, noticing how Hunter, Blake and Angie all turned a deep red, and no one else seemed to hear my words.

Looking at Blake, Tori grinned before practically pouncing on him, tickling his sides viscously before leaning in and kissing him deeply. He seemed surprised for a moment, but his eyes closed almost instantly and he kissed her back, just as deeply.

Their kiss lasted longer than Angie and Hunter's and it took Hunter reaching in and making a show of checking both their pulses, to make them laugh and stop the kiss.

"Have you two ever heard of the term, 'air'?" Cam asked sarcastically.

I raised an eyebrow at him and grinned as he shot a dark glare at me before sighing and plastering that fake smile on his face again.

"I mean, dude! Like, have you guys ever heard of 'air'?" he asked while making hand gestures like Cy did.

"Who's...turn is it?" Tori asked breathlessly, blushing when she caught Blake's eyes.

"Yours." Angie stated as her eyes flickered to mine.

_Oh, no..._ "I think we've embarrassed the guys enough." I stated with a nervous giggle, giving them warning looks. "Why don't we end the game here?"

The guys quickly agreed, but Tori grinned sadistically and turned to Dustin. "Just one more. Dustin, Truth or Dare?"

His eyes flickered to me in confusion before looking around the circle. I think he had a vague idea that something was going on, but not what. The other guys seemed fairly confused, too.

Since no one else said anything, Dustin slowly nodded his head. "Uh, Dare, I guess."

Tori's evil grin grew, and I bit my lip hard, feeling my heart pounding almost painfully in my chest. _Oh god, this is it._ I thought as I fought not to panic. My mind flew over different possibilities of how to get out of this or how to get around it, but then went totally blank at Tori's words.

"I dare you to kiss Taelin."

"Ok, now _I'm_ wondering when this turned into a kissing game." Shane muttered with a grin. A grin that quickly faded when he saw the protectiveness in Hunter and Blake's eyes at her words.

But still, they made no move to stop him when he shrugged with a bright red face and crawled over to me. Smiling a little, akwardly, he leaned in and kissed me softly, and I swear, I felt like I was flying when his warm, soft lips covered mine.

My first kiss, and I felt like my face was going to explode. A million questions soared through my head. Was I doing it right? Should I tilt my head a little more to the side? Is my nose jabbing him in the face?

But as his lips moved over mine, those thoughts all fled my mind and I let myself go, moving my lips back and relaxing when I realized how natural it felt. There was only one thought left on my mind, and it wasn't a question or worry.

It was... _Wow..._

When we finally parted, I panted a little to catch my lost breath and opened my eyes to find his staring so seriously and warmly into mine. I knew without a doubt that I'd been worried for nothing.

You know all those times you hear how you don't have to communicate with words? Or how sometimes, all it takes is a look? Well, I could tell from his eyes that he cared about me very much.

It made me briefly wonder if Angie noticed the same thing in Hunter's eyes when they kissed.

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**dragons in our midst** - Since you sent me in an OC bio, I'll give her a mention. I am closing in on the end of the fic, I believe, but at the very least, I want possible girls for the guys, so I'm mentioning girls they could end up with.

Carly Satron? Red hair, green eyes and glasses? Can be quite a smart-aleck?

Well, there ya go. So far, the first kiss for everyone. Well, except for Tori and Blake. What was that, kiss number 3? 4? LOL.

Hope you like it so far. :)

R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	19. Chapter 19

**GinaStar** - Well, strip-poker sounds fun, too. LOL. I don't think I've ever really played Truth or Dare, either, and I'm 22, soon to be 23. LOL. Yeah, it hit me last second to have Hunter say 'Would you like fries with that?' after the kiss. LOL. Doesn't it just seem like a Hunter thing to do? LOL Glad you liked the chapter. :)

**pinklen98** - I'm glad you liked it. :) I had to borrow ideas for a lot of the dares from online and such, because I got totally lost as to what to do. LOL.

**Mrs.Quincy25** - I tried to describe them the best I could. LOL. I'm glad you liked them. I just can't get over the 'fries' comment from Hunter after his kiss. LOL. I look at that part and can't help but giggle.

**star-dreamer09** - Sorry about the wait. Lots going on, and I am on a different computer with a much slower connection. LOL. But I have a couple more chapters to upload now. :) I'm glad you liked the Truth or Dare chapter.

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(Two Days Later, Lothor's Ship, Normal POV)

"Can you two do _nothing_ right?!" Lothor spat angrily, stalking back and forth on the bridge of his ship and glaring angrily at anyone, or thing, that got in his way. "All I asked is that you capture one of the Dragon punks or that other girl they've been hanging around with, and you can't even do that!"

Kapri blinked nervously as she looked at the screen. "It's not our fault!"

"Yeah, the Rangers seem to always know when one of them is in danger!" Marah agreed from half behind her big sister.

"Excuses, excuses." he groaned as he plopped down into his seat and stared at the screen intently. "Those girls... They're the keys. That one girl..." He pointed to an image of Taelin chasing Dustin around in the park, the others all scattered around, taking it easy. "She's the weakest one." He watched as Blake and Hunter watched over her warily, only briefly looking away to speak to each other or one of the others.

"The Thunder brats are protective of her, and the Yellow one seems close, too." Lothor stated thoughtfully. Turning to his nieces, he barely resisted the urge to blast them with his powers. "At the very least, you _should_ be able to capture her! She's not a dragon or a Ranger!"

Kapri looked down uncertainly before exchanging a glance with Marah. "Well, we...we tried. It's just that the Thunder Rangers show up in seconds around her."

"Then keep them distracted, obviously!" he shouted, blasting a hole in the wall behind them. "It's that simple! Send down a monster to keep the other Rangers busy and capture that brat!" He turned back to the screen. "Her or the other one, the dragon girl. She can't fight either, and she knows... She holds all the information about being a Dragon Clan."

"You...want us to capture them both?" Marah asked shakily.

"That's too big of a job for you." he stated in a distracted tone. "See if you can capture at least _one_ of them." Lothor turned to them menacingly. "And don't fail me this time!"

(In the Park, Angie's POV)

Well, things have certainly been...tense since the Truth or Dare game. I only went along with it because I thought it was Tori's and my intention to get Dustin and Taelin together.

Job accomplished...sort of.

There was one, well, ok..._two_ factors we didn't think of.

Though the brothers accepted Dustin being close to their 'little sister', they refused to let them go out alone. I know that it was a fear that something would happen to her, but they couldn't keep her locked up forever!

And then the thing with me and Hunter... Well, I _think_ he likes me. I mean, he's nice to me and all. It's just, since that kiss, I've felt totally awkward around him, and I know he feels the same.

It's pretty obvious when he blushes deeply and can barely look me in the eyes long enough to say a word. Not to mention, I can feel my own face heating up. I think, we just need some time, but that dare for us to kiss...certainly made it a little more difficult to be around each other. _And imagine, if I'd chosen to sit on his lap for the game, things might not have been so bad._ I thought in a daze as I wandered through the park. _Or...they might've been worse._

I still didn't regret it, though. I couldn't. As awkward as things were now, I still wouldn't have changed my mind, if I had to do things over again. At least, I had a slightly more optimistic look for the future.

All I could think of was how warm his lips were, and how gentle he was. Even the look of uncertainty in his eyes.

"Angie!"

Blinking, I jumped in surprise and focused on the present, taking a quick step back when I found Taelin standing _right_ in front of me. "Uh, hi." I stated with a frown, feeling my forehead crease in confusion.

Giggling, Taelin waved in my face. "You zoned out on me." Moving to the side, she gestured to the rather rough looking trunk of a tree directly behind her. "And you almost made a new friend."

Aka, I almost walked face-first into the tree.

Feeling my face heating up, I nodded a little with a nervous giggle. "Oh, sorry."

"Are you alright?" she asked in concern.

I pursed my lips as I thought about it. Am_ I alright?_ "I really dunno." I stated in a quiet voice, checking around to make sure the others couldn't hear me.

Blake was chasing Tori around a fountain in the center of the park, some distance away, until he stopped. Tori didn't seem to notice he wasn't following her, until she made another round and ran smack-dab into him, knocking them both _into_ the fountain.

Shane was watching a bunch of girls that were hanging out. The look on his face was distracted though, so I don't think his mind was on them, despite the faces they were making at him, before busting up giggling.

Cam was sitting on a bench, talking to a shorter girl with red hair and green eyes. She wore long, slim-fitting blue jeans and an orange t-shirt, along with thin framed glasses, perched on her nose. I swear, I could sense something about her, something familiar, but it was foggy, and I couldn't make it out. Still, I got the sense that she wasn't really a threat, so I left it alone. He _did_ seem pretty into their discussion, but for the sake of privacy, I decided not to listen in.

Dustin and Hunter were sparring, but both looked distracted. I'd have been worried about them listening, if not for the fact that Dustin wasn't Dragon Clan, and Hunter was too far away to hear us over the crowd.

Still, my eyes shot over the group again, focusing on the girl a moment as I listened to her. I didn't want to eavesdrop, but something about her caught my attention.

"My name's Carly Satron." she said with a raised eyebrow as she stared at Cam. "You don't believe me, huh? Who're you to say what does and does not happen around here?" she challenged. "I know what I heard and the people around here are talking about it!"

Cam's eyes darkened and he shrugged. "Me? A citizen of Blue Bay Harbor. I don't know where you got that there's dragon people around here, but..."

"Angie?"

I snapped out of my trance and turned to look at Taelin. "Sorry, I was checking something out."

She shrugged. "It's alright. So? You said you didn't know if you were alright?" She looked around carefully. "Is this about Hunter and the kiss?"

My face began to heat up and I walked towards the boundaries of the park, knowing full well that Hunter and Blake would freak, if they knew how far away Taelin was going. They liked to keep her in sight, and the park boundaries were just out of that range. "Yeah." I said simply. "You should go back, so that Hunter and Blake don't have strokes, looking for you." I stated dryly.

Tae shook her head and sighed. "Those boys. I love them so much and they're amazing big brothers, but-"

"They're driving you mad?" I guessed with a grin.

She nodded. "Not that it's a long drive, after living with them." she added sarcastically.

Blinking a moment, I narrowed my eyes. "You know, they're right. You _are_ spending too much time around me." Then I thought about it. "Well, me and Cam, anyways. I honestly think it's better to be around me, than him."

"I'll go gray if I stay around him too much." she added with a giggle. "He's so serious!"

"Not like Dustin?" I asked mock innocently, raising an eyebrow at her.

I didn't notice us walking through the boundaries, or that we were being watched by two odd young women. I also didn't notice the dark aura in the area. Probably because my mind was on a dozen other things at the moment, and I simply wasn't paying attention.

Whacking me on the arm, Taelin made a face. "Leave Dusty out of it!"

I couldn't help but laugh. "_Dusty?!_" Well, the name did suit an _Earth_ Ninja.

Her face glowed a light pink and she looked down with a smile.

Shaking my head, I wrapped an arm around her shoulders with a grin. "Ok, I'll admit. The name's cute." I stated with another giggle.

Pouting, she nudged me in the side. "And what about Hunter?"

That...sobered me up. "I don't really think we're in the nickname stage, Tae." I said with a raised eyebrow. "Besides, the only thing I can think of is Hunt, and somehow... That just doesn't suit him."

Taelin nodded thoughtfully. "Well, he likes you, that's obvious. Didn't he kiss you back?"

_Ok, so she has a point._ I thought begrudgingly. "I never said he didn't. It's just...things are more awkward, now."

"Because you're both embarrassed about the kiss." she said knowingly. "And maybe it was a little too soon?"

"I honestly dunno about the last part... Maybe." I answered with a shrug, noticing that it had gotten a little cooler and was darker. "But a definite yes to the first part." Looking around, I frowned when I realized just how far we'd gone from the park. "Um, Tae? I think we should head back." I was starting to get definite warning signs that being out here, without an escort right now, was a bad idea.

Especially when I noticed two strange women following us. One had brunette hair and blue eyes, and the other had white-blonde hair and blue eyes.

But it wasn't the eyes that caught me.

It was the aura of darkness around them, and the fact that I clearly remembered their faces from an earlier battle, where Hunter was hurt in dragon form.

Marah and Kapri.

Taelin looked worried but nodded quickly, and I grabbed her hand, making a quick dash across the street, and a turn so that we were running down the sidewalk. Up ahead, I could see the entrance to the park a good distance away, and frowned when I realized we were farther than I thought. That, and there were people running out of the park, screaming.

Which meant the others were busy, and couldn't come to our rescue.

_Great._ I thought sarcastically. _Two un-trained fighters against god-knows how many evil space aliens!_ "Tae, why didn't you just stay at the park?" I groaned as a bunch of kelzacks appeared in front of us, blocking our path and making me stop cold. "Hunter's so gonna have my head for this!"  
I turned back, to see if there was another way out, only to feel a sharp pain in my stomach that sent me flying. Feeling a hard impact on my back, I collapsed to the ground, welcoming the darkness that engulfed me and hearing Taelin screaming my name before everything went black.

(That Evening, Ops, Hunter's POV)

"Would you stop staring a me!" I growled at the others, noting that they were _still_ watching me spar alone in the corner of the room. "Angie and Taelin are missing!"

Cam raised an eyebrow and shot a look to his father, but Sensei Watanabi shook his head, and with a sigh, Cam turned back to the computer, resuming his typing.

Blake gave me a sympathetic look from Tori's side, and I could tell from the stink of worry coming from him, that if it weren't for her, he'd be up here with me. Dustin was staring at the table with dark eyes and I could almost feel the pain radiating from him as he remained silent.

He'd been like that since e were attacked by Fridgard, a monster Lothor sent down that blew ice blasts.

_Just how in the world did he know that we were weak against ice, to begin with?!_ I thought mentally, going back to my sparring. I jumped up and did a round-house kick before landing in a crouch and punching at the air several times.

I could feel Blake's anger. _**I'm willing to bet one of his generals found out about Arnon and Windia. If they knew about those…**_

Than it wouldn't be hard to learn about the Dragon Clan and their weaknesses. Yeah, it made a lot of sense, but it didn't help to calm me. If anything, it only served to make me more worried.

While we'd been distracted, he'd somehow captured Angie and Taelin. The computers weren't able to record anything, due to a jamming signal, but I thought it was pretty obvious when Marah and Kapri came rushing to the park, squealing about having captured 'the girls'.

"Hunter, we're all worried, but you need to relax." Shane said lowly as he looked at me.

Spinning to him, I glared, feeling my wings mantle widely. "Relax?" I hissed lowly. "They're missing and you expect me to relax?!"

"I think it's pretty safe to say we know where they are." Blake stated darkly as he glared angrily at the table, holding Tori's arm lightly, his eyes glowing a deep navy.

I nodded and turned to a nearby pillar. "Lothor." Lashing out, I punched the pillar as hard as I could, wincing at the pain that ran up my arms as the wooden beam cracked greatly. _Um, oops..._ I thought sheepishly as I healed my hand and turned, scratching the back of my head nervously.  
Cam had spun around and was glaring at me while the others all seemed a little frightened of the power I just displayed. "Ok, Hunter? I know you're worried but destroying Ops isn't going to help." he stated dryly, with a sigh.

_I never should have let them outta my sight._ I thought guiltily.

Blake's eyes darkened even more as he stared at me. _**Bro... Don't blame yourself. None of us thought to keep an eye on either of them.**_

Shaking my head, I sighed and leaned against the cracked post, sliding down it to a sitting position. _I've been so confused._

_**I know.**_ He thought with soft eyes. _**Bro, you forgetting I can hear your thoughts? I know you've been confused, and scared...for no reason.**_

_No reason?!_ Closing my eyes, I sighed again and covered my face with my hands, rubbing wearily at my eyes. _I just... Things're changing so much. I dunno how to deal with it._

_**Deal with it the same way you dealt with meeting the others. **_He thought as he tugged Tori closer to him. _**Come on bro, I think we all know you like her.**_

I think he meant that in a partially teasing way, but at the same time, I knew what he was saying. I didn't have problems with the others. Not really. And Tori, I didn't mind getting close to Blake. But this...this was different.

Blake frowned and shook his head. "Hunter..." He stated warningly. _**How is it any different from what you're going through? Do you know how confused I was, wanting to be with Tori and not wanting to betray you? When we were fighting them, before? I didn't want our lives to change, or how things were in our lives.**_

_But they did._

Now he smirked. _**But not necessarily for the worst.**_

"Alright, I've got a fix on their location." Cam stated, bringing up an image of a cave by a secluded area of the beach.

"They're not on Lothor's ship?" Shane asked in confusion.

Shaking his head, Dustin shot up into a standing position. "Dude, like, isn't that a good thing?" he asked anxiously. "I mean, won't it be easier to get them out then?"

_**Maybe too easy...**_

Glancing to Blake, I frowned and stood up as well. "Either way, we have no choice but to check it out."  
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I'm on a different computer at the moment, but wanted to post this when I could. I'm glad to hear people are enjoying this story. :) I'm also glad I am able to keep going for you.

If the font seems messed up at all or the spacing, or if you find squares (which are meant to be : ) ), it is because I am using a different progrma right now to continue, until I go home.

Now I have a hint of another crossover idea for another fic, and it'll either be Dustin/Marah or Hunter/Kelly. I'm leaning more towards Hunter/Kelly. LOL It's just a faint idea, though.

Hope you like it.

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"I'm not one to forget a face, but in your case, I'll gladly make an exception."

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	20. Chapter 20

(With the Girls, Normal POV)

Waking up slowly, Angie groaned in pain and clutched at her stomach as she slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was how dark it was, and she freaked, thinking she was blind.

Until Taelin made an appearance, telling her they were just in a really dark cavern.

Was it ever a relief to see the small ball of energy in her hands. Ok, so Taelin couldn't do much magic, and it was mostly offensive, but she could do a few small tricks.

Apparently, when they'd been captured, some big guy in a black mask decided they needed to stay in the cave. There was also a brief mention of a lot of Ninjas being held captive on a ship, which led the girls to realizing that Lothor had them.

Speaking of Lothor...

"Ahh, the little white Dragon Clan girl is finally awake." he stated with a smirk as he walked into the room, Marah and Kapri following behind him. "And how has your stay been so far?"

Tilting her head to the side, Angie pushed her hair out of her face and grinned. "I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. Unfortunately..." she suddenly frowned and glared at him. "This isn't it."

Raising an eyebrow, he glared back at her a moment. "Saucy little girl, aren't you?"

"I've had wonderful teachers." she stated indifferently.

Turning to Taelin, he narrowed his eyes. "And you must surely remember who I am, from earlier."

Apparently, he'd taken her aside to question her as to why she was so important to the others. That meant, he didn't know she was Windian, and from the triumphant smirk on her face as she gazed levelly back, Angie was willing to bet he _still_ didn't know.

"I'm not one to forget a face, but in your case, I'll gladly make an exception." she stated in a falsely sweet voice, standing beside me.

"Hmm... Seems like you two have been hanging out with the wrong crowd."

Giggling, Angie turned to Taelin. "Is it me, or have we been getting that a lot?" she asked in genuine curiosity.

"More like _I've_ been getting that a lot." Taelin stated with a raised eyebrow. Glancing at Angie briefly, she shrugged with a 'I couldn't care less at the moment' look.

He shook his head. "No matter, soon the Rangers will be history."

Neither of the girls liked the sound of that and exchanged worried looks before glaring at Lothor. If they didn't get out of there, then chaos was surely going to follow.

After spewing a few more insults and taunts, Lothor left them alone, dragging the two girls behind him and leaving the girls alone in the cave.

"We gotta find a way outta here!" Taelin hissed quietly, keeping an eye on the door. "But I looked around and I didn't see any thing."

"What _did_ you see?" Angie asked softly, her eyes lingering on the ground as her mind quickly flashed to a blonde haired, blue eyed Thunder Ninja.

Taelin's own mind was on Dustin, but she forced herself to focus, upon hearing Angie's question. "Um... Well... There's a really big cavern. There was a couple small paths that I followed, but they just left off at dead ends. Other than that... Oh!" she snapped her fingers. "There was a pond."

"That doesn't sound too promis-wait..." Frowning a moment, Angie thought back over what she said. "The pond...was there any sign of light, or that it was coming in from some place?"

Taelin nodded immediately. "There was a small waterfall coming from the wall."

Raising her eyebrow, Angie gave Taelin a pointed look. "A waterfall in the wall, meaning an opening and very possibly, an exit."

"But the water was gushing from it. It's really strong."

"The others could be in danger." Angie pointed out. "I think it's a risk we're gonna have to take."

(With the Rangers, Dustin's POV)

I know the others were worried about Angie and Taelin together. And I know that Blake and Hunter were terrified for Taelin more than anything, but my mind was on Taelin alone. I felt bad that Angie wasn't a worry for me... Well, yeah, she was, just not my top priority...Which made me feel kind of confused...but all I could think of was that Taelin was captured by Lothor and undergoing any kind of horrible torture.

Yeah, it crossed my mind that having them in a cave, instead of in prison bubbles on his ship, was very likely meaning a trap, but I just didn't care. I'd deal with anything I had to, do get Tae back safely.

So here we are, heading to the cave, morphed. I may not be Dragon Clan, but even I could tell something was seriously wrong.

Especially when there was a huge number of those weird, mutant kelzacks at the entrance, with Marah and Kapri guarding the doorway. Was it just me, or did the girls seem a little hesitant to give the order to attack? I noticed Kapri's eyes darting to Shane really quickly, and Marah just looked uncertain.

"So, how do we do this?" Hunter called in a savage hiss.

I was kind of scared of the sound of his voice, and noticed how he and Blake were decked in their dragon armor along with fully mantled wings. What was a little worrying, was that the armor and their wings were glowing brightly in their colors.

"Uhh, dudes?" I offered weakly, making sure to keep my distance. "Are you guys ok?"

They didn't answer, but to lash out with their combined powers to take down a large group of the kelzacks.

"Maybe we should just help them?" Tori offered with a shrug.

Turning back to the cave, I let the idea that I was close to Taelin, to empower me, and lashed out with my own power. "Power of earth!"

Dropping to my knees, I pounded my hands on the ground, causing a massive earthquake. many of the kelzacks staggered and lost their balance from my attack, but that wasn't what I was going for.

Large boulders began to shake free from the large rock face of the cliff and fell down, hitting many of the kelzacks.

"Power of air!" Shane called, using his power to move some more stubborn boulders to where he wanted them as they fell, hitting even more.

Tori eyed the falling dirt and smaller rocks a moment before nodding and eyeing the kelzacks. "Power of water!" She soaked them all through before soaking the earth and making it into mud, which coated the mutated kelzacks, blinding them as it got into their eyes.

Blake and Hunter remained absolutely silent as they fought, using their powers or combining complex katas. Seeing that the kelzacks had become drenched, Blake nodded his own head at Tori before calling upon his own power. "Power of thunder!" His navy lightning shot out, frying all the soaked kelzacks.

(With the Girls, Angie's POV)

"This _so_ isn't fun." I groaned, choking on another mouthful of water.

We'd found the small cave and were currently wading through chin-high water, trying to make our way through. Talking was difficult, without choking on the water that kept trying to rush past us. And we had to hold on tightly to the ceiling, to keep from being pushed back, or dragged under.

Taelin could only nod, her face turned upright to help her breathe better. Reaching out, I grabbed her arm and prayed we could make it out of this. I felt her clutch my hand back and squeezed lightly as she struggled closer to me.

Our wings were away, since they would only get in the way if they were out. Still, I was relying on my enhanced senses to help us.

What I mean is, I could _smell_ fresh air seeping in through a hole somewhere ahead of us. I could hear the others fighting some place in the distance, making my heart clench in worry.

"Lothor said…" Taelin choked on water. "He said they'd be history…"

I nodded a little. "He's probably got some secret weapon."

"And Blake and Hunter… They're too worried to fight clearly." she added, carefully keeping her head afloat.

Nodding again, I gasped a little when my foot slipped, sinking under the water and choking a little. Pushing myself back up, I grabbed on to the roof and carefully felt around for the ground, with my feet. "Because you're here, with me, and they don't know if you're ok. Dustin, too." I stated pointedly. Letting go of her hand, I moved a little forward and kept feeling around until I felt the rocky ground beneath my shoes. "Ok, there's a drop-off, so don't rely on the ground." I instructed.

She nodded quietly, a look of worry in her eyes as she edged forward. Reaching out, she grasped my hand and I held on tightly as she held on to the ceiling with her other hand and swam forward the best she could, relaxing a little at my side.

Once we made it across, I noticed that the cave went up and frowned a little when I swore I could hear something scrabbling around in the caves ahead of us. I knew it couldn't be Hunter or Blake, but I knew something was there. It stunk of darkness.

But it was the only exit. We didn't have much of a choice, if we wanted to get out.

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I'm working up to the final battle, so…

Thank you to everyone who reviewed. It means a lot and encouraged me to continue.

Hope you like it.

R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	21. Chapter 21

**pinklen98** - Nope. In fact, I don't think Lothor's really going to be hurting much of anyone soon. Hmm...Fight? Well remember that the girls aren't really fighters. But I do have plans for them, as you'll see. LOL.

**dragons in our midst** - Well, I kind of felt bad. I mean, I just mentioned Shane kind of having a thing for Kapri, and Cam still didn't seem to have someone. So to be fair, I wanted him to, and the idea of your OC came to me. There's no definite proposals or anything, but I can work her into the story a bit. :)

**JuseaPeterson** - Well, I was watching cute youtube videos when I saw that one and thought to myself 'perfect'! And it just seemed natural for it to be Dustin/Taelin. I loved Hunter's 'fries' comment. LOL. I can so totally see him saying that, too. Well, I was struggling to have all the Rangers there with the girls, try to keep everyone in character, and what dares to have who do. So I had a little trouble in a few parts. I understand if there were some parts you were iffy about.

I tried to think of how Tori would answer. And the kiss, I couldn't help but giggle when Hunter made the show of checking their pulses, as a joke. Glad you liked the chapter. I'm getting more into the final battle now.

Amazing how this worked out for me. I'm so tired of working with Lothor, but it fits, too. I didn't want to work a battle scene with him against them, but LOL, I think I managed to solve that one.

There might be some minor mentions of blood and possible, light gore. I hope it doesn't bother anyone. I tried to keep it as undetailed as I could, to keep from grossing anyone out. LOL.

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**(Hunter's POV)**

"I really don't like this." I growled, feeling an uncomfortable pressure in my chest. "Why are they just standing there?!"

Most of the kelzacks were gone by now, but the girls hadn't run off or moved forward. They still seemed unsure about something, but I don't think any of us could figure out what it was.

The others were a little out of breath, but were still in the fight, holding their own fairly well. Me and Blake? It was like we had unlimited strength or something. Now, I knew that wasn't the case, but I still felt like the battle had only begun, and was full of energy, and I just knew Blake felt the same way.

"We need to get inside and find the girls!" Tori called as she blasted a couple of the remaining mutant kelzacks with her Sonic Fin.

Dustin nodded and moved forward. "Ninja Lasers!" he called as he shot multiple lasers from his morphers, taking down another group.

"You didn't think that was all I had, did you?" came a sneering voice, and everyone looked up to find Lothor sauntering out of the cave with an evil grin. Turning to Marah and Kapri, he sighed dramatically. "The girls got out of the cave." he muttered quietly.

That gave me hope, and I felt a grin tugging at the corners of my mouth. If that was the case, chances are, they were on their way out as we stood here.

_**Bro, something's not right.**_ Blake called warily. _**He doesn't seem too upset about them getting out.**_

My eyes narrowed dangerously as he sauntered into the middle of the battlefield with an evil sneer, indeed, not looking to unhappy about it.

Behind him, Marah and Kapri exchanged looks. "You think Uncle should've let the girls wander freely in the nest? I mean, what if they destroy the hatchlings? Or what if they get destroyed?" Marah asked with a frown.

Kapri made a face and shrugged. "Either way, as long as the Rangers are gone, I don't think he cares."

_...Nest... HATCHLINGS?!?_ my mind screamed as a new terror raced through me.

Wincing heavily, I heard Blake snarling loudly, a mix of being angry at me for yelling, and at Lothor for what the girls could end up going through. _**Hunter, shut it! If anything happens to them...**_ Stepping forward, he glared at Lothor through his helmet. "If anything happens to them..." he repeated out loud for our enemy. "You're gonna wish you'd never come back to earth!"

"Oh?" Lothor acted surprised for a moment. "Are those two, useless girls important to you?"

Now it was my turn to snarl as I stepped forward. Looking around, my eyes narrowed even farther, into angry slits as I stared hard at the area. No kelzacks, only Marah and Kapri, with Lothor standing unguarded in front of us. _Blake was right..._ "Something's not right." I stated lowly.

Where were Choobo and Zurgane? Vexacus? Motodrone?

I didn't like this at all. The girls were out of their cave, only to end up possibly wading through a nest of some sort, and Lothor's generals were nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, my eyes widened. _It's a trap!_ Feeling like smacking myself in the head, I stepped back with the others. Of course it was a trap! Lothor's been trying to blind us with rage. _Stay clear, bro. Don't let him get you angry._

I could feel the rage radiating off Blake, but he seemed to be pushing it back. _**You don't think I already know that?**_ he asked snarkily. He stepped back as well, between me and Tori, as if seeking refuge, and once between us, I felt him relax considerably.

_So... We're at a standoff?_ I thought in frustration.

_**That's the way it seems.**_ Blake answered in reluctance.

(With the Girls, Normal POV)

_As god as my witness, if I ever get outta here, remind me to kick Lothor's-_

"Ang...?"

Turning her head, Angie raised an eyebrow at Taelin, stopping her thoughts as she took in the terrified Windian girl. Her violet eyes were filled with tears as she inched through the room as silently as she could, and her wings were shaking violently.

Reaching out quietly, Angie gave as comforting a smile as she could manage as she took Tae's hand and helped her climb over a couple more of the sleeping parasites.

Yeah, they were in the middle of some kind of giant parasite nest. That scrabbling sound had been one of them, but Taelin managed to fry it with a weak lightning blast that, luckily, had been fairly silent and didn't wake up the rest of them.

That's a good thing. Angue had been close to picking up a rock and smaching it into the ground, which would've likely been a lot louder.

"Come on." she whispered to Taelin, nodding a little as the Windian stepped over two more of the spider-like parasites, curled up in on the ground. "Remember, Dustin and the others are waiting."

She had to keep mentioning that they were just on the other side of this cavern, in order to keep up her motivation to get out. As soon as she spotted all the parasites, she'd been strongly tempted to go back the way they came.

Who could blame her? They looked like spiders, with six legs and long, tapered bodies with a giant stinger on the butt-end of them. Easily, she recognized them as the same parasites that had been attached to the kelzacks, but they were also smaller, leading her to believe they were more like hatchlings.

_This _so_ isn't what we needed._ she thought in irritation as she carefully stepped over another one.

Suddenly, her foot slipped and she flailed wildly to keep her balance, biting her lip hard enough to draw blood, in order to keep from screaming in surprise and terror. She staggered back a step, and managed to catch her balance, but only by having her other foot land loudly on the ground, making a crunching sound echo through the room.

Looking to her foot, she cringed to see the bloody remains of one of the spider things. _That's one way to take them out._ she thought in disgust.

Then, there was a loud squeak. Followed quickly by several more squeaks.

"Oh, crap." she stated lowly, looking up to see Taelin's eyes fill with even more terror as they darted around the room.

"They're waking up!" the Windian hissed loudly. "What do we do?!"

_Think fast Ang..._ Running over her training sessions with Hunter, she stomped in frustration as she looked around. There were a lot of loose boulders, but... _Wait..._ Turning to Taelin, she bit her lip. "I think we can take a lot of them out, but there's a lot of risks."

"I don't think we have much of a choice." Taelin said with a shaky voice as she stomped on some nearby parasites, cringing and hopping to wipe her foot off on a rock before she unleashed several weak lightning blasts on more. "Whatever you're gonna..." Suddenly, her eyes widened with realization and she spun to Angie in shock.

Smiling awkwarldly, Angie closed her eyes and concentrated. _I'm so gonna feel this later._ she muttered with a mental grimace as she called upon her other form.

You see, like the other Dragon Clan, baby dragon, and human weren't the only forms she had. She also had an adult dragon form, that would be more or less perfect for this situation...

...Unless she got caught by a parasite. Then it would be disastrous.

Praying to all that was holy, she summoned her full power and winced in pain as her body transformed. A large cloud of white mist formed around her body, quickly filling the entire room, and a blinding blast of lights emitted from it. Once it was done, the mist slowly cleared to show a giant white dragon with glowing navy eyes.

Now, even in that form, Angie still wasn't a fighter, but she did have a plan. Stomping forward, and muttering foul curses every time she stepped on about a dozen of the parasites, she reached a claw up and swiped at the stalactites that hung from the ceiling, causing the ground to rumble as they caved in towards the defenseless spider-like creatures.

Egg-sacks made of webbing also fell from the ceiling, splattering all over the ground.

Luckily, Taelin ran towards Angie and scrambled between her legs, taking cover from the falling debris and still blasting spiders. She caught one climbing up Angie's scaled leg and blasted it away, hearing a startled yelp from the dragon she was hiding under. "Parasite!" she called loudly, stomping on a group that scampered towards her.

Most of the parasites were gone, but some still remained, and Angie carefully stepped on them, wincing at the wet crunches they made, and the feel of the blood on her hands and feet.

Suddenly, there was a loud hiss, and she spun to look up, getting hit and rolling across the room when a giant spider-like creature jumped at her. _Oh, man! The queen!_ She hadn't been expecting her. If anything, she forgot that 'hatchlings' usually meant there'd be a 'queen'.

"Angie!" Taelin shouted from the center of the room. The young Windian took a shaky step towards her, but was stopped as the last of the surviving parasites surrounded her. "Oh, I really should've taken Cam up on his offer to teach me magic." she stated with a shudder as she began to blast more.

Swiping the giant spider queen with her claws, Angie hissed as the blood sprayed on her one arm, noting immdiately that it burned like acid. _Not a good idea..._ Frowning deeply, she pushed as hard as she could and sent the queen flying across the cave, into a wall.

And fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it, the wall crumbled from the force, and the queen sailed right through it, landing out in the middle of an obvious battlefield, if the unmoving bodies of mutant kelzacks had anything to say about it.

There, a group of rather still Rangers stood in shock, staring at the slowly moving queen as she got up shakily, standing over a kind of flat-looking black leather.

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Can anyone tell where the 'flat-looking black leather' came from? LOL. Cyber cookie to anyone that can! LOL.

Hope you liked it.

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"Yeah, no. I wouldn't call that a pet."

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	22. Chapter 22

Ok, I think this is more or less the final chapter. Not too much on the OC for Cam, but a hint of possible furutre. LOL. My muse is more or less running out for this fic, and I don't want to continue it too much futher, or I'll start rambling (if I haven't already).

I do have more dragon ideas, but I've got ideas coming out the wazoo, so... I have to decide what's coming first. LOL.

I had some problems uploading the chapters, or they would've been up earlier.

**JuseaPeterson** - To be honest, I don't really see Hunter blushing too easily, either, but I think it would be kind of cute to see. Still, I agree with you, it's just what came out at the time. LOL. Remember, I write in a trance, and don't realize what I've got down until much later.

Special thanks to all my faithful reviewers!

**JuseaPeterson**

**Pinklen98**

**GinaStar**

**Mrs.Quincy25/Gracey**

**Dragons in our Midst**

**Star-dreamer09**

**Daziel**

**Roxy-blue**

**Purple SPD Ranger**

**Holding Out For A Hero**

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(Blake's POV)

Ok, so the standoff was boring and all, but I don't think any of us expected what happened next. One minute Lothor is standing in the center of the field, taunting us to come forward and attack, the next...

He was a pancake.

I think I was torn between laughing at the irony of the situation, and wondering if my eyes were playing tricks on me.

I mean, he's just standing here, going on and on about how big of cowards we were, that we weren't going after him, and then he's completely flattened by the giant body of what looked like some strange kind of spider.

"Guys, tell me I'm not seeing things." I stated unsurely, my rage having temporarily vanished at the sudden shock.

Shane and Cam didn't move or make a sound, Dustin gave a weak 'dude', Hunter remained silent but took a step closer, and Tori's head cocked to the side.

"I dunno if I should be happy Lothor's finally gone..." She began unsrely.

Evil space alien or not, there was no way any of us could see him getting up from that. Especially when the spider thing bled all over his body and he began to scream as his body melted.

I couldn't help but shudder at the sounds, and watched as Hunter covered his ears from the screams. Quickly following suit, I relaxed after a few minutes, once the screams were gone, and shuddered again, knowing that image and those sounds were gonna haunt me for a little while, and being glad Taelin didn't just witness that.

"Or even more afraid of this thing..." she finished, stepping back.

Shane nodded. "So, Lothor _did_ just get squashed by one of his own...pets... Right?"

I blinked as Hunter quickly backed up, seeing the spider thing turn on us quickly. "I wouldn't call that a 'pet'." I said shakily as I stepped back. It's blood was getting everywhere and everywhere it landed, the ground hissed and smoked. "Yeah, no. I wouldn't call that a pet." I repeated, chuckling nervously.

"Angie!"

Spinning to my bro, I felt his worry and followed his gaze to the hole in the cliff, where a large white dragon limped into view, a small Windian girl riding on her back. "Tae!" I called in relief, seeing that they were more or less alright.

Still, the wound on Angie's arm didn't escape my view, and I could clearly see that she was weak. From what I could tell, the wound was a burn mark, and my guess was that she managed to heal it enough to keep it from getting any worse.

_The spider-thing must've bled on her arm._ I thought with a frown.

I felt Hunter's rage climb again as he spun to the thing. _**And it's gonna pay for that.**_He literally growled in my mind.

As angry as he was, I could also feel his fear and uncertainty. _Bro, let's do this._ I stated as calmly as I could.

Closing my eyes, I tapped into the power I felt surging below my skin. It was ten times stronger than anything I'd ever felt, and I couldn't help but cry out as a painful spasm ran up my body. My eyes shot open and I could make out a navy mist around me. Things got darker and a lot sharper than they already were, and I could see the faint outline of my friends and the monster.

No, it was more like I could see their body heat signatures, rather than _them_.

Either way, when the mist cleared, I panicked as I felt my mind being brushed aside. It was like something else suddenly took control of me, and I could only watch helplessly as my newly formed dragon body rushed forward, breathing an icy, navy mist at the monster.

Vaguely, I could make out my brother's terror, and glanced the best I could out of the corner of my eye, watching as a similar ruby dragon fought beside me.

He looked the same as he did in baby dragon form, only a lot beigger and more ferocious. His eyes were more slanted and less round, his horns on the back of his head were longer, and his fangs were sharper. He wore a golden, scaled mask around his eyes, in the same shape as the gold rim around his visor, in Ranger form, and the crimson thunder symbol on his chest.

And his eyes... They glowed a deep crimson, full of rage and confusion, as he swiped at the spider thing, hissing loudly as the acidic blood got on his claws.

_Bro._ I couldn't help but wince mentally when I felt a wall of rage come at me. I knew it wasn't directed at me, but I couldn't make out anything in Hunter's mind. It was like we were blocked.

The spider monster was getting weaker, but slashed at us with sharp claws and the massive stinger on it's butt-end.

_Come on, bro..._ I thought hard, struggling to get control over my body, or at least find some way to comminucate with Hunter. Still, nothing seemed to work and I felt myself panicking worse. I could hear my friends calling my voice, and my dragonic head snapped in their direction with a growl.

_Oh god..._

I felt confusion and rage directed at them. Whatever was controlling me, didn't recognize them as allies.

A blast of navy mist, sent them scattering for cover, and I faintly heard them crying out in protest. My mind was dragged back to when we were brainwashed, and how I tried to fight it, but it was no use. I felt like i was betraying them again, and that really hurt me.

Especially when my eyes landed on Tori and I smelt confusion and hurt.

But... There was a hope. My dragonic body froze at the sight of her, and i sensed a fleeting sense of recognition.

"Blake!"

My dragon body spun, seeing Taelin run up to the others. Immediately, I growled, unable to help it, when I sensed she was in danger. The only one my body recognized, was Tori, and Taelin was standing next to a yellow clad guy.

_Get outta there!_ My mind screamed. Part of me knew i should know him, that I had no reason to be worried, but it was brushed aside as my panic took over.

A loud roar brought my attention back to the battle, and I spun in time to get caught across the chest with a leg from the spider monster. Luckily, it was weak, and it only sent me staggering, but my head shot back to the strangers, with Taelin in their midst. Another figure joined them now, holding her arm and looking at me with concern.

I recognized her smell. A Dragon Clan. A weak one, at that.

But that's all I recognized.

...Until I felt a strong sense of worry from my other side. Turning to my brother, I watched as his eyes flashed blue, briefly, before they turned back to crimson. His rage had died considerably, and I heard him faintly whimper before he turned back to the battle, his rage renewed.

_What's going on?_ I felt like my mind was spinning in circles. I knew I should know all those people, and that they were no threat. It nagged at my mind, but the panic drove me to attack the spider, knocking it down, before I spun to the group, blasting them with my ice breath, again.

"Tori! You gotta talk to him! He's in a Dragon Panic!" the newest girl cried, clutching her arm. "You too, Taelin!"

_Taelin... Tori..._ I knew the names, but they were the only names I knew. Taelin was my charge and 'little sister', and Tori is the woman I loved. _Woman... I love..._ I felt the control over my body weaken at that thought.

"Blake! You gotta get control!" Tori called in a panicked voice. "We're your friends, remember?"

_Friends..._

I vaguely recalled battling with them, but as enemies, not friends.

"Come on, big bro!" Taelin shouted from the side of the man in yellow. "Don't you remember? Dustin rides with you guys at the track! You've sparred against Shane and Cam!"

_Dustin..._ A flash of a fair skinned brunette man with brown eyes, crossed my mind. He was looking at me with a grin as he pulled on a helmet. _Shane_. I saw myself ducking a punch at my head, but knew instinctively, that it was not meant to hurt me. We were sparring. A man with dark skin and hair, deep brown eyes staring at me as he offered me a hand up.

_Cam..._ A man sitting at a computer, making a sarcastic comment. Fixing his glasses as he stared around the room with a smile, picking up a set of ninja leathers. Asian decent, black eyes and hair...

"We're all friends!" Tori repeated. "Blake, please! Come back to us!"

I could hear her silent plea of 'come back to me'.

There was a loud squeal, and my head spun to the spider, watching as it grappled my brother to the ground. Fangs dripping saliva hovered too close to his neck for my liking, and I felt my rage bubble higher. _Bro!_ Snapping forward, I launched myself at the spider and grabbed it from behind, heaving it off my brother before hitting it with a blast of navy mist.

Hunter jumped to his feet, his eyes flashing between crimson and a sky blue. The crimson full of rage, and the sky blue full of confusion and fear.

Opening his jaw, he blasted the partially frozen spider with a crimson fire blast, and we watched as it fell to the ground, exploding into a firely mess.

"Hunter! Blake!"

My head shot back to the group and I felt the rage fade into confusion. _Friends? Tori? Dustin, Shane, Cam? Tae...? Little sister?_ It suddenly felt like my body had been drained of all my energy, and I felt my eyes close as it felt like I was shrinking.

"Blake!!!"

I was falling, I think. I felt my legs give out, and heard footsteps run towards me. Next thing I knew, I was being cradled in a set of warm arms that smelt faintly of perfume and the sea. Instinctively knowing it was Tori, I allowed myself to curl up in her arms, vaguely noting I was back in my baby dragon form.

As I felt myself succumbing to the darkness, I also faintly heard Angie and Taelin calling to Hunter, and knew that if anyone, but me, could get to him, it was them.

(Ops, Hunter's POV)

"Dude, I _never_ wanna do that again!" I groaned as I slowly sat up.

"I still can't believe Marah and Kapri just gave up and 'wanted to go good'." Cam stated with a shocked look as he adjusted his glasses.

Everyone was sprawled out around the main room of Ops after the final battle. Me and Blake needed a little time to rest, but once we were awake, I left the room, insisting I wouldn't rest until I found Taelin and Angie.

"I still can't believe Lothor got done in by one of his own monsters." Shane muttered with a wince. "Man, I think those screams are gonna scar me for life."

I eventually found them, sitting in the main room. They were exhausted, and Angie had transformed into her baby dragon form, lying asleep in Taelin's arms. Tae was pretty tired, too, but told Cam that she'd have nightmars of what they went through, if she tried to sleep right now.

I was so relieved to see them alright. I just remember rushing forward, with a cry of their names, and hugging Taelin tightly, smiling when Angie let out a startled and peeved squak at having been squished between us.

That reminded me of her wound, and I noted that it was still pretty raw looking. Without a word, I just grabbed her arm, despite her trying to pull it back, and healed it.

...Only to end up holding her hand as she transformed back.

She was blushing deepy, and told me I should've just left it to heal. Then I brought up that it was no big deal for me to heal it, and pointed out that it didn't even leave a scar.

"I still dunno if I should laugh or be grossed out by that." Tori muttered with a face as she stroked the back of dragon Blake's head.

My bro was still tired, and after following my example, of hurriedly looking for the girls, he turned back into a dragon and crawled into Tori's surprised arms.

"It was cool how you guys can turn into big dragons like that." Dustin murmured as he leaned up from the table, leaning a little sideways to rest his head on Tae's shoulder. "But next time, can you like, not try to fry us?"

Taelin shook her head. "It's not like they could control it."

Angie nodded as she sat by me. "It was their first tranformation, and they were already terrified. Their dragon halves fed off that terror and sent them into a Dragon Panic. The only ones that could get through to them were the closest people to them. Family, or people they loved." That last part made her blush.

Then again, I felt my own face heating up a lot at the words. "Is that why it took Tori and Taelin to bring Blake back?" I asked nervously, clearing my throat as my voice cracked.

She nodded a little and Tori shot us a look as her own face turned a nice cherry red.

Blake's one eye opened and he raised an eyebrow. _**I wouldn't be one to talk.**_ he stated pointedly. _**It took Angie and Taelin to get you to turn back.**_

"Blake!" I yelled in embarrassment, givig a sheepish look to everyone who jumped and stared at me in confusion. _How would you know?! You were out cold!_I challenged mentally.

He snickered a little and a little navy scaled fore-claw raised and pointed to Tori. _**I heard **_**all**_** about it, bro.**_

Narrowing my eyes at Tori, I watched as her own eyes went wide. "So, Tori was talking about me, was she?" I asked conversationally. "Why don't you tell us all what you said?"

_**You don't wanna do that.**_ Blake warned with another snicker.

_Oh yes I do._ I countered firmly. "Well Tori?"

Her eyes stayed wide and she seemed to be searching for something to say. "Uh, I just... I, umm..."

I watched as Angie's eyes went wide as well and her face turned a deep red. "Uh, Tori... She was, uh..."

Now I was very suspicious and confused. Obviously Angie was in on it. And if Taelin's giggling was any indication, I suspected she was, too. "Alright, spill!" I stated firmly. "After all, apparently Blake heard all about it and I can always get him to tell me."

_**Oh no you won't.**_ Blake stated as his head shot up and he shook it quickly. _**Leave me outta this!**_

_You started it!_ I hissed mentally, biting back a grin as Tori's eyes shot to Blake really quickly before shooting to the other girls.

"Maybe we _should_ tell him." Taelin stated with an almost evil grin.

"No, you should not!" Angie cried, her face turning a red that almost made me worry her face was going to explode. "Or I'll tell Dustin about-"

"Ok!" Taelin squealed loudly. "There's nothing to tell anyone about!"

"Enough of this!" Tori stated loudly. Turning to Angie and Taelin, she shrugged. "It was kind of a last game of Truth or Dare, but just between us girls, and both of them have dares to do." she stated vaguely.

If it was anything like before... My face began to heat up once again. _Bro... Tell me._

He shook his head and buried his snout in his paws. _**Nope.**_

"Blake..." I stated warningly.

"Come on, just get it over with." the water ninja stated with a grin.

"Well, I'd love to stay for this, but I have to meet someone." Cam stated evasively as he got up and headed for the stairs, activating Cyber Cam as he went. "Try not to blow things up."

"And you try to have a good time with Carly." Angie stated with a teasing smirk, giggling when his face turned a deep crimson.

He opened his mouth to say something but seemed to quickly change his mind and shook his head, leaving us alone as he stalked up the stairs.

"Carly?" Tori asked in confusion.

Angie's face sobered up. "I swear there's something familiar about her. Something I know I should be able to identify, but I can't." Shaking her head, she shrugged. "Just before Tae and I got captured, he was talking to her in the park, and I just guessed that he was going to see her."

"From the look on his face, I'd say you guessed right." I muttered as I looked at everyone. "Now, back on topic..."

Tori grinned evilly. "Yes, girls... I believe you had dares to do?"

Taelin sighed heavily, her face set unsurely as she turned to Dustin. "My dare..." she trailed off as she nervously licked her lips before looking at the ground.

"Oh, what the hey!" Angie stated loudly, turning and grabbing me by the face.

Before I could even blink, she'd covered my mouth with her own. For a moment, I froze. I felt my heart beating nervously as her lips moved over my own, but then I relaxed, moving my lips back, and kissing her. I was about to deepen the kiss when she beat me to it, and I could feel my face heating up nicely as we continued to kiss.

After a few moments, she pulled back and I could only blink blankly, not knowing what to say or do.

"My turn, I guess." Taelin stated, her own face a deep red. She turned and grabbed Dustin, leaning in and kissing him lightly, nervously. As the kiss wore on, she grew braver and the kiss deepend.

Me, I turned back to Angie, nudging her lightly to get her to look at me. Her face was filled with nervousness, but in her eyes I could see a deep warmth, directed at me. It helped to quell my own fears, a little, and I found myself smiling at her. Hesitantly, I reached over and took her hand, holding it in my own.

She squeezed back and smiled at me.

Turning back to the kissing couple, I smirked at Dustin's lost look as Taelin pulled back.

Like before, things had changed, but...for the better, not the worst.

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I say "THE END" With a (?) simply because I am fairly certain this is the end of this fic, but if I get an idea for a continuation or a sequel or something, I can always do that. LOL. But don't expect anymore chapters for a while, if ever, on this fic. (Sighs) My muse for this one up and jumped out my window on me. :S

Now, with Hunter, relationships are fun, because he won't just jump in. So yes, things between them are still a litle rocky, and the same for Dustin and Taelin. Mainly because I don't want the last mentioned couple to just suddenly glomp each other and start making out in front of the room... Although... No, I'm trying to keep them somewhat in character. LOL

So their relationships are still progressing. And the mention of Cam and Carly... That's more of a 'Make it what you want' type thing.

I hope you like it. I wanted to try something a little different for the ending. Thus the Lothor getting squashed and Dragon Panic.

R+R please.

Thank you everyone for keeping me going on this one.

Tenshi


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